That's why Carter said she decided to share her story, in an effort to convince lawmakers to give parents - and their kids - a chance at a better life. It's been 10 years since, but they say their family still hasn't recovered. "A lot of the prior law and order and criminal justice policy comes from faulty storytelling," said Erin Haney, Senior counsel at #cut50, explaining that now they are working to change the narrative. “We are now starting to look at what justice means, and that is very different than solely relying on our long history of thinking of justice as exclusively punishment.”Ĭarter, a partner with the group's Empathy Network, an initiative that gives a platform to those impacted by the incarceration system, used her story to advocate for Senate Bill 394. The organization behind last year's bipartisan federal prison reform, #cut50, has joined with other grassroots organizers to put a face to the issues with personal stories from those who are most impacted. Proposition 57, which provided incentives for rehabilitation program participation inside prisons, alone resulted in a reduction of 10,600 in the average daily prison population over the next three years, due to good time, early-release credits.Īdvocates emphasize that there's also been changes in the way criminal justice is discussed - and that's largely what is driving the shifts in policy. The state successfully enacted several reforms, through both the legislature and the ballot box.
Officials credit policy changes with the drop. Now, prisons are holding at roughly 135% of capacity. A former captain for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, Cooper scored an 85% rating from the National Association of Police Organizations for pushing back against several reforms that would get people out of prisons. "I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like it," said Assemblymember Jim Cooper, a Democrat representing the Sacramento area, who did not vote for the bill. A similar bill, introduced last session, didn’t pass. “Law enforcement fought us tooth and nail,” Wiener said, adding this was only the second time sentence enhancements have been repealed in the state. Passage was hard-won. SB 136 achieved a narrow victory, passing 41-37 in the Assembly, and 22-16 in the Senate.
The savings are projected to increase each budget year to $43 million in 2021-22 and $68.5 million in 2023-24. The practice comes at a high cost - the state spends roughly $80,000 a year to lock up a prisoner, a figure that multiplies as enhancements are added. Senate Bill 136 ends the practice, and according to an analysis by the Department of Finance, California will save $20.5 million in the first year of implementation. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, more than 11,000 people currently behind bars have had an arbitrary year added to their sentences because of the enhancement laws. Roughly 80% of prisoners have had their sentences enhanced, and for more than a quarter of those, it has happened multiple times.
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