C115: Prisons, Punishment, & Corrections

Week 1

What did Realignment (AB 109) do?

Shifted responsibility of lower-level offender from state to counties

What prompted Realignment?

Because of ‘80s tough on crime era, there was an increase in inmate violence, death, disease, and more. Thus, the Three-Judge Panel declared CA must decrease prison population by 137.5%.

What percentage capacity were prisons to get down to?

137.5%

What populations did realignment affect?

1. Lower-level felons

2. Lower-level releases

3. Parole violators (biggest pop.) 

What was the impact of realignment on correction? 

It reduced prison population (but not enough), increased probation workload, increased jail populations, and reduced crime rate. 

What is the 3 Strikes law?

Heavily sentences offenders on the 3rd offense; meant to deter people from committing more crimes. 

Prop 47 (2014)

Reclassified low-level, non-violent, non-serious, property & drug offenses to misdemeanors. It was meant to decrease the number of people going into prison & reduced prison and jail populations. 

Prop 57 (2016) 

Allowed parole considerations for non-violent offenders who participated in rehabilitation programs to earn credit to reduce their sentence. It was meant to reduce how long people stayed in prison, and so far hasn’t impacted the population greatly.