Community News
Open dialogue among community members is an important part of successful advocacy. Take Action California believes that the more information and discussion we have about what's important to us, the more empowered we all are to make change.
Dear
Supporter,
“The Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment’s goal will be
real data-based, long-term solutions that will help us stop spending excessive
money on prisons and allow us to focus more on investments that grow our
economy and provide opportunity.” Speaker Pérez said.
Bring
your stories and experiences; this is a rare chance for Committee members to
hear from people who are not law enforcement or government officials.
I
served 45 years in prison, starting on Death Row. Almost two years ago I was
paroled, I attempted to obtain employment within the city to no avail.
Like many former prisoners hunger and economic issues led down to a despairing
path of homelessness.
Fortunately,
I discovered a community based organization, they gave me what everyone needs:
a fair chance!
We
know how to reduce spending on incarceration and invest that money to expand
alternatives like the Fair Chance Program that better serve communities all
across the state!
My skills are being utilized in a meaningful
way; I am properly housed, fed and very grateful. We need the Committee on
Justice Reinvestment to hear our stories.
See you there,
Ernest
Shepard III
Fair Chance Project a member of Californians
United for a Responsible Budget
Today,
the Governor and Legislative leaders announced a "compromise deal" to
address the court order to reduce prison crowding. They've given the Court an
ultimatum: either extend the deadline or we will expand the prison system.
The Assembly will be voting on the plan this
Wednesday, and we
need our voices to be louder than ever: California does not need any
prison expansion. Reduce the prison population and restore the cuts now.
We are having a big impact. Our pressure
forced Brown to agree to add millions in investments to rehabilitation and
diversion if the Court deadline is extended. But as it stands, this bill will
delay any real reductions to the prison population. And unless we cancel the
state's plans to build 3 new prisons will mean an expansion of the prison
system. We need to demand that the administration prioritize the prison
population reduction strategies we know will work today.
All
of our events statewide are still happening so please join us in the streets at
an action near you:
Sacramento: Tuesday - September 10 - Press Conference at 11:00am at the
North Steps, Capital Building, followed by legislative visits. Please
contact emily@curbprisonspending for more information.
Los Angeles: Tuesday - September 10 - Preschool Not Prisons Press Conference
& Rally at 9:30am at Twin
Towers Jail, 450 Bauchet. Please contact info@raisingcaliforniatogether.org for
more information.
Los Angeles: Tuesday - September 10 - Virtual Townhall at 6:00pm
– 8:00pm at Community Coalition and Homeboy Industries. Please
contact Karren Lane at karren@cocosouthla.org for
more information.
SACRAMENTO - Democratic leaders of the State Senate on Wednesday proposed an extran $200 million annually for rehabilitation, drug and mental health treatment as an alternative to Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for reducing prison overcrowding.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Wednesday that his Senate Democratic Caucus wants the spending in exchange for a three-year extension of federal judges' Dec. 31 deadline for removing more than 9,600 inmates from state prisons.
Steinberg said the Senate proposal was preferable to Brown's plan to spend $315 million this year and $415 million in each of the following two years on alternate housing for inmates.
"Temporarily expanding California's prison capacity is neither sustainable nor fiscally responsible," Steinberg wrote to Brown and inmates' attorneys Wednesday. Inmate lawsuits led to the judges' ruling that state prisons are unconstitutionally crowded.
Any extension would have to be approved by the judges, who have castigated Brown for stalling on obeying their order to shed more prisoners.
Steinberg, flanked by 16 Democratic senators in a Capitol hallway, said the Senate plan is modeled on a 2009 state program that reduced new prison admissions by nearly 9,600.
The plan won a quick endorsement from the prisoners' attorneys.
"Sen. Steinberg's substantive proposals are acceptable to us and we are open to an extension" if all parties can agree on an approach "that will resolve the chronic overcrowding problem in the state's prisons," the attorneys said in a statement.
The lawyers said they were willing to meet with the governor and discuss ways to end federal court oversight of prison medical care, imposed because the judges said overcrowding led to inadequate healthcare and needless inmate deaths.
The judges are unlikely to extend their Dec. 31 deadline without evidence that the proposal would result in meaningful policy changes, said legal scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school atUC Irvine.
"I think the court wants to be sure this is not another delay," Chemerinsky said.
Steinberg's plan drew sharp criticism from Gov. Brown and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles).
"It would not be responsible to turn over California's criminal justice policy to inmate lawyers who are not accountable to the people," Brown said in a statement.
"My plan avoids early releases of thousands of prisoners and lays the foundation for longer-term changes, and that's why local officials and law enforcement support it," he said.
Pérez said in a separate statement that he was "deeply skeptical about Senator Steinberg's approach." It would give more power to "prisoner plaintiffs who favor mass release of prisoners," Pérez said.
Steinberg countered that his plan would also avoid early releases. But there may be no more money available for rehabilitation if the state spends more than $1 billion on incarceration over the next three years, the senator said.
Steinberg suggested that a middle ground might be found. "Does this lead to conversation that leads to a solution and compromise? I hope," Steinberg said. "You know me. It's not my way or the highway. We are putting down a settlement proposal here."
But time is short. Steinberg called for an agreement by Sept. 13, the Legislature's last meeting day this year. The settlement would provide for a panel of experts to set a new prison population cap.
In addition, an advisory panel would be formed to restructure sentencing laws so fewer offenders would be sent to prison in the long run.
The state "cannot assume that the plaintiffs and their lawyers, and the federal court, will agree to a three-year extension," said Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber).
On the other hand, nobody wants to be responsible for releasing thousands of inmates early because of a stalemate, said Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.
"You'd have to think they are going to find some accommodation," Sonenshein said.
Meanwhile, Steinberg canceled a Senate confirmation hearing for two corrections department directors appointed by the governor.
"We have additional questions about the administration's ongoing corrections policy," said Steinberg spokesman Mark Hedlund. "It makes sense to wait before we consider those two appointments."
By Patrick McGreevy
patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com
Times staff writers Anthony York and Paige St. John contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times
Saturday, June 29, 2013
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
Holman United Methodist Church
3320 West Adams Blvd - Los Angeles
RSVP Required: admin@justicenotjails.org
