Governor’s Proposal to Address Inmate Rehabilitation

San Jose Address Inmate Rehabilitation And Santa Clara Juvenile Justice Attorney

Forty years ago, when he was first governor, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law providing for strict sentences for serious crimes. This year, Gov. Brown has proposed a ballot measure to amend the law to give the chance of early release to inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes and to encourage rehabilitation.

The Initiative

The proposed ballot initiative does not change the sentencing policy established in 1977. However, it makes it easier for corrections officers to award credits toward early release based on good behavior, participation in prison education programs, and efforts at rehabilitation. The initiative would create an incentive for inmates to rehabilitate themselves that does not currently exist in California’s corrections system.

The initiative would further authorize the state parole board to consider early release for a nonviolent inmate who has completed his or her full sentence for the primary offense, before the inmate has completed added time from sentence enhancements.

Reasons for the Initiative

The proposed ballot initiative is partially a response to a 2009 federal order calling for California to reduce its prison population. In 1977, Gov. Brown signed the determinate sentencing law that the initiative is supposed to counteract. It marked the beginning of a tough-on-crime era in the state, which some have argued is a cause of California’s booming prison population.

The law is also designed to encourage rehabilitation efforts among prison inmates, as California’s justice system currently offers too few opportunities and incentives to help inmates prepare themselves for life in society.

Responses to the Initiative

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck praised Brown’s efforts to weed out rehabilitated nonviolent offenders to make room for those who deserve to be in prison. However, critics note that the initiative focuses only on the offender’s current offense when determining parole. Thus, an offender with several prior violent offenses who is currently in prison for a nonviolent offense could be eligible for parole despite sentence enhancements for past crimes.

Getting It on the Ballot

Gov. Brown needs at least 585,000 voter signatures in order to have the initiative put on the ballot in November. Earlier this year, there was a controversy in which the California District Attorneys Association argued that Gov. Brown improperly amended the proposal onto another juvenile justice initiative in order to secure votes. The existing proposal would give judges, rather than prosecutors, the power to decide whether juveniles should be tried for felonies in juvenile court or as adults. In February, however, the California Supreme Court allowed the proposal to be amended.

Criminal charges can be life-altering, but prison can be a time for rehabilitation. If you have been charged with or convicted of a crime, an attorney can defend you and help you get back on your feet after your sentence has been served. Please contact experienced San Jose criminal defense attorney Wesley Schroeder to schedule an initial consultation.

Sources:

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-sentencing-reform-ballot-20160127-story.html

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