California voters need to demonstrate the courage their Legislature sadly lacks by approving Proposition 47 on the November ballot. It will bring balance to sentencing, rehabilitation and treatment programs and reduce the state”s appalling, highest-in-the-nation recidivism rate.
The ballot measure reduces prison sentencing guidelines for those who commit low-level offenses as long as they have no serious or violent crimes on their record. It would also apply retroactively to inmates already in state prisons, helping the state achieve its Supreme Court-ordered mandate to reduce prison overcrowding to 137 percent of capacity.
Lawmakers have gutlessly backed away from similar sentencing reforms for fear of being labeled soft on crime. And speaking of gutless, Attorney General Kamala Harris has shied away from taking a position on this proposition, even though it appears to be consistent with her stated beliefs.
The beauty of Prop 47 is that it will take the savings generated by reducing the state”s prison population and put it toward mental health, drug rehabilitation, victims” services and school truancy and dropout prevention programs. The independent Legislative Analyst”s Office expects Prop. 47 to generate in the “low hundreds of millions of dollars annually,” offering significant funding for programs in desperate need of additional dollars.
Opponents, consisting almost entirely of law enforcement officials, are conducting a fear campaign that the initiative will increase crime. It”s the same argument they used in 2012 when voters approved Prop. 36, reforming the state”s Three Strikes law. But the Stanford Three Strikes Project reports that the recidivism rate of prisoners released early under Prop 36 in 2012 is substantially lower (1.3 percent) than that of all other inmates released from prison over the same period of time (over 30 percent).
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen argues forcefully that Prop. 47 gives law enforcement officers the rare opportunity to break the cycle of crime by providing additional resources for mental health and drug treatment programs. He is virtually alone in the law enforcement community, but he”s right. It”s insanity to house California prisoners at an average cost of $47,000 a year per inmate for non-violent and non-serious crimes, especially since there is little evidence that prisoners who stay in prison for an additional year commit fewer crimes when they are eventually released.
Rosen also points out that prison overcrowding now means California will not have space in its prisons to house violent offenders in future years. It makes far more sense to release prisoners who have no history of violence in an orderly, planned fashion, rather than simply releasing prisoners who are the closest to finishing their sentences, even if they have violent tendencies.
California has spent the past two decades focusing on arresting and incarcerating criminals. Prop 47 is crime prevention, helping keep criminals from repeat offenses by giving them the education, drug treatment and mental health programs they need to be productive members of society. Vote yes.
San Jose Mercury News
