The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.
The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.
The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
“This shortfall <strong>of</strong> resources relative to demand contributes to significant delays <strong>in</strong><br />
treatment,” <strong>Justice</strong> Anthony Kennedy, who has s<strong>in</strong>ce retired, wrote <strong>in</strong> the majority<br />
op<strong>in</strong>ion. “Mentally ill prisoners are housed <strong>in</strong> adm<strong>in</strong>istrative segregation while await<strong>in</strong>g<br />
transfer to scarce mental health treatment beds for appropriate care. One correctional<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficer <strong>in</strong>dicated that he had kept mentally ill prisoners <strong>in</strong> segregation for ‘[six] months or<br />
more.’”<br />
Abbie VanSickle is a staff writer at <strong>The</strong> Marshall Project, where her work on California’s<br />
prison reform movement is part <strong>of</strong> an ongo<strong>in</strong>g series called “<strong>The</strong> California Experiment.”<br />
VanSickle, as with others closely monitor<strong>in</strong>g the implications <strong>of</strong> newly adopted laws and<br />
<strong>in</strong>itiatives, says California’s eagerness to pursue change can clearly be traced back to<br />
the court’s mandate nearly a decade ago.<br />
“It set <strong>in</strong> motion a sort-<strong>of</strong> series <strong>of</strong> changes <strong>in</strong> the way that the state’s prisons worked <strong>in</strong><br />
who was held and for how long, and eventually how people could ga<strong>in</strong> early release,”<br />
she tells News Beat podcast.<br />
<strong>Reform</strong><br />
It all started with AB 109—or more popularly known as “realignment.”<br />
As VanSickle notes <strong>in</strong> the podcast, AB 109 essentially moved people with nonviolent,<br />
nonsexual and non-serious convictions out <strong>of</strong> prisons and <strong>in</strong>to the custody <strong>of</strong> county<br />
jails. That meant the onus was on each <strong>in</strong>dividual county to figure out the best way to<br />
absorb low-level <strong>of</strong>fenders <strong>in</strong>to their respective systems, and come up with plans to<br />
reduce recidivism—AB 109’s ultimate goal.<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Bird, the law also <strong>in</strong>cluded fund<strong>in</strong>g for local jurisdictions to develop<br />
“evidence-based practices.”<br />
“That’s really when we started to see the prison population come down <strong>in</strong> California,”<br />
she tells News Beat podcast.<br />
Along with lessen<strong>in</strong>g the degree to which people with non-serious felonies would serve<br />
their time <strong>in</strong> prison, AB 109 also “very importantly…prevented revocations to prison for<br />
most <strong>in</strong>dividuals who are leav<strong>in</strong>g prison,” Bird notes. “And this meant that if they were<br />
picked up for misconduct they either needed to be formally processed through the court<br />
system and reconvicted <strong>of</strong> an <strong>of</strong>fense or they needed to be revoked and serve that<br />
revocation term locally.<br />
<strong>The</strong> was significant, Bird says, because not only did it alleviate the pressure on prisons,<br />
but overall <strong>in</strong>carceration levels also fell.<br />
California no longer had “that sort <strong>of</strong> revolv<strong>in</strong>g door that had perpetuated the size <strong>of</strong> the<br />
prison population <strong>in</strong> California,” she expla<strong>in</strong>s. “And what we saw as a result was really a<br />
dramatic decl<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> the prison population. And that wasn’t surpris<strong>in</strong>g given that the rules<br />
Page 96 <strong>of</strong> 262