The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.

Pete: Scott’s dad listened to Rush Limbaugh in the car as they were driving to school.
My mom has MSNBC on three televisions when I go home.
Scott: The reason we bring that up at all is that we want people to see, even in the fact
that the two of us are doing this together, that there are people on both sides of the aisle
who care enough about this issue and are outraged enough to do something.
Pete: It’s not that we got lucky and found a conservative Mormon who supports prison
reform. It’s because he’s a conservative Mormon that he supports prison reform.
Scott: There’s a passage in the Book of Mormon that says to follow Christ you have to
“bear one another’s burdens…mourn with those that mourn…and comfort those that
stand in need of comfort.” As Mormons, every Sunday we renew our commitment to do
that, and I take it seriously.
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The Marshall Project
Nonprofit Journalism About Criminal Justice
21 December 2018
How One County Became a Lab for
California’s Prison Reform
San Joaquin went all in. Now it’s a model.
When California lawmakers unveiled a plan in 2011 to reduce the number of inmates in
state prison, officials in San Joaquin County thought the timing couldn’t have been
worse.
There were already signs that a recent dip in crime might be coming to an end in this
Central Valley county east of San Francisco. Homicides were up by nearly 40 percent
from the previous year. And in the midst of a financial crisis, the county and local cities
were laying off police officers and prosecutors.
Now the county would have to quickly absorb an influx of nearly 1,000 released
prisoners.
“We were super concerned,” said Stephanie James, the county’s probation chief. “It
was such a significant number that were coming out of prison who were at a high risk to
commit a violent offense.”
As they braced themselves, county officials set up a system of collaborative courts to
help former prisoners find jobs, housing and treatment for mental health and addiction
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