California’s budget demonstrates a commitment to correctional spending despite continued funding cuts to other important social services. According to California Common Sense , since 1980 “…the number of incarcerated felons in state prisons has increased more than eightfold despite relatively stable crime rates.” Incarcerations and related costs have been driven up in part by the unnecessary incarceration of low-risk, non-violent offenders due to the Three Strikes law and similar…
Blog Oct 2, 2012
Romney, the 47% and juvenile justice
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney committed a major blunder that has gone viral all across the country. In a moment of candor he told a very exclusive audience (of mostly some of the infamous one percenters and perhaps a few wanabees) that “There are 47 percent of the [American] people who will vote for the president no matter what.…there are 47 percent who are with whom, who are dependent on government, who believe they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to…
Publications Oct 1, 2012
Local Reform in a Realigned Environment
Local Reform in a Realigned Environment
California Youth Crime Plunges to All-Time Low
San Francisco boasts of prison-realignment successes San Francisco Examiner, October 1, 2012
Pretrial resources and upcoming juvenile map release
The execution of justice is not always neutral. Unfortunately, racial discrimination remains deeply imbedded in the policies and practices of the justice system, and not merely a relic of the past. For example, minority youth are disproportionately affected with higher arrest and confinement rates than White youth. Experts identify this phenomenon as Disproportionate Minority Contact/Confinement (DMC). This is a widely recognized problem, one already given considerable attention by law…
SFPD Recorded Nearly All Asian Arrestees as ‘Chinese’ KQED News, September 26, 2012
Blog Sep 25, 2012
Jails, poorhouses, and debtor’s prisons
CJCJ staff writer Selena Teji recently posted a blog called “Overcrowded jails, the bail industry, and pretrial alternatives .” Among other things she notes that many are in jail “simply because they cannot afford to post bail.” In short, it’s a place for the poor. A couple of years ago I posted an article called “From Poorhouses to Jails, Same Function, Different Time ” I began by referring to a book by David Wagner called The Poorhouse: America’s Forgotten Institution . In his book one…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 25, 2012 San Francisco, CA : While 32 out of 58 counties in California are planning to add new jail beds to fulfill new AB 109 realignment responsibilities, a new report identifies counties that have developed cost-effective ways to alleviate and maximize on their existing jail space without compromising public safety. These models and practices could be modified and replicated in other jurisdictions that are currently struggling with overcrowded jails. Best…
Sep 20, 2012
Reform ‘three strikes’: Proposition 36 will improve an unfair, costly and ineffective law
Reform ‘three strikes’: Proposition 36 will improve an unfair, costly and ineffective law Chico News and Review, September 20, 2012
Blog Sep 20, 2012
Report: Senate Bill 678 delivers on its promises
In July the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) released it’s second year report on the effectiveness of Senate Bill 678 , a well-designed piece of legislation sponsored by Senator Mark Leno in 2009. Adapted from a successful model in Arizona , SB 678 created a system of performance-based funding that incentivizes county probation departments to implement and sustain data-driven model practices in adult felony probation supervision. If county probation departments demonstrated…