California needs a massive overhaul of its prisons and parole system to effectively cope with crime and repeat offenders, a noted law professor told a San Quentin audience.
Jonathan Simon, an author and professor at the University of California Bolt Hall law school, visited San Quentin to lecture prisoners on why parole does not work, and why re-evaluating California’s sentencing structure for violent crime is crucial to eliminating mass imprisonment.
Simon’s research shows that the institution of parole has changed little since its inception.
Unlike many other states, that eliminated early releases through parole, California continued to require parole supervision in the community for all released prisoners. And that, Simon contends “is a big part of what’s broken.”
After a prisoner has served their sentence Simon contends it is not effective to add up to three years of parole supervision for each ex-offender without making any distinction between those who do and do not pose a threat.
He noted a major problem, especially in a down economy, is jobs for persons released.
Another important issue is placing more offenders in county-run institutions rather than more-expensive state-run prisons. State-funded institutions should be set aside for lawbreakers who pose such a threat of violence that they cannot reasonably be worked with in the community, he said. The state’s financial support should actively subsidize counties (as done in the 1970s) to keep more offenders in their county system—where with less effort they can be integrated back with their families and community resources.
Californians also need to revamp the state school structure, which have become gateways to criminal-justice custody through disciplinary regimes and test-based pressures to force out weaker students, Simon said. Another example is California’s mental health system which has been allowed to deteriorate, leaving many untreated mentally ill on a pathway toward criminalization and incarceration
Simon is the author of a number of books. More on Simon’s studies is available at this web site: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/
