Five criminal justice experts weighed in on suggestions California should pursue to reduce prison populations and improve public safety.
The article suggests California can learn from other states, including Texas, Illinois and Washington.
Lenore Anderson is executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, a group described as “a nonprofit working to reduce over-incarceration with common-sense solutions that improve public safety and reduce taxpayer costs.”
Discussing Texas and its investment in health solutions, Anderson wrote, “One key lesson to learn from Texas’ success is their investment in health solutions for the health problems that many incarcerated people share: substance abuse disorders and mental illness.”
The recidivism rate for people who participated in Texas’ drug court was nearly eight times lower than defendants who had not.
By addressing these issues, Texas has seen serious and violent crime decrease 12.8 percent since 2003. When a prison was closed, credit went to the successful investment in treating mental illness and substance abuse.
Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D., suggests eliminating the California governor’s power to nullify paroles granted by a state parole board. Ghandnoosh is a research analyst at the nonprofit group The Sentencing Project.
“Twenty years ago, Texas amended its constitution to end gubernatorial parole review. It’s well past time for California to depoliticize parole,” Ghandnoosh wrote.
California is one of five states that continue to allow governors to review parole suitability granted by the parole board. Prior to Gov. Jerry Brown, an average of 4 percent of lifers were granted parole.
Lois M. Davis suggests California follow the state of Washington’s example of focusing on rehabilitation. She is a senior policy researcher for the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corp.
“California took a bold step in implementing the Public Safety Realignment Act. Now it should move beyond Realignment to focus on rehabilitation,” Davies wrote.
Its rehabilitation focus has helped Washington reduce its recidivism rate by an expected 6.3 percent, on average. Alternative rehabilitative services refer offenders to treatment programs, allowing prison to become the last resort.
“RAND’s recent national study on correctional education shows that adult offenders who participated in prison education programs reduced their risk of recidivating by 43 percent and that every $1 invested in these programs resulted in about $4-$5 in savings in re-incarceration costs,” Davis said.
Nicole Fortier recommends California consider using funding to shape a better prison system. She is counsel in the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.
“A ‘Success-Oriented Funding’ model is a simple, yet effective approach: Lay out clear priorities for what taxpayer dollars should accomplish, then tie funding directly to achievement of those priorities,” Fortier wrote.
“The concept is simple: Fund what works to reduce crime and incarceration, and dump what doesn’t,” she said.
Illinois and New York City have adopted such a model, she added. The (California) Legislature “could provide additional funding – found within prison cost savings – to prosecutors’ offices that recommend alternatives to incarceration or to law enforcement agencies that issue citations in lieu of arrests.
“This could move California toward a smaller prison population and a more effective, socially beneficial, and efficient criminal justice system.”
Lateefah Simon recommends California follow the lead of other states in reducing incarceration for low-level offenders. Simon, the program director for the Rosenberg Foundation, makes three recommendations:
1. Shift the “incarceration only” approach to invest in evidence-based alternatives that can reduce crime and racial injustice in the system.
2. Make reentry of prisoners a priority. Eliminate reentry barriers and invest in rehabilitation and critical support needed to help formerly incarcerated people live meaningful, productive lives, and keep them out of prison in the first place.
3. Build a broad-based coalition to champion change. This includes education, health, the economy, businesses and law enforcement.
“Cages can’t create safe and healthy communities,” Simon said. “Criminal justice reform is one of the leading civil rights issues of our time, and we must turn around the legacy of failed policies that are costing us not just dollars but also precious human potential.”