Letters
Letter to the Editor
March 31 marks the birthday of Cesar Chavez, co-founder (with Dolores Huerta) of the United Farm Workers Union. The pair deserve a National Holiday, IMO. (The recent documentary, “Dolores,” supports that contention.)
Posts Tagged: nonviolent
Analysis
PolitiFact: Anti-Prop. 57 claim on Brock Turner case ‘mostly false’
The scales of justice in an empty courtroom. Photo: tlegend, via ShutterstockOn the day Turner was released, opponents of a California ballot measure to reduce prison crowding seized on the notorious case to make a questionable claim. “Brock Turner’s early release will be a regular occurrence if Prop. 57 passes,” claims the headline of a news release on the Stop57.com campaign website.
News
Brown: More carrot, less stick
An inmate gestures through the bars of his prison cell. (Photo: Sakhorn, Shutterstock)Gov. Jerry Brown has a lot riding on the November ballot. Voters will decide on his Proposition 57, which Brown says would let nonviolent inmates become eligible for parole sooner, create “good behavior” credits for state prisoners and let judges decide whether to try a juvenile as an adult. With California’s prisons crowded and facing a court-imposed population cap, and thousands of inmates housed outside the state, Brown says his measure makes sense.
News
Criminal justice, sentencing reforms gain traction
An inmate gestures through the bars of his prison cell. (Photo: Sakhorn, Shutterstock)For decades, Californians and their representatives in the state Capitol had a “lock-‘em-up-and-throw-away-the-key” approach to lawbreakers. But that view is changing. Following years of a steadily increasing prison population and some communities repeatedly being devastated by crime, public discussion has shifted in part toward reforming law enforcement’s approach to crime prevention.
News
Under the radar: Resentencing prison inmates
Inmates in a crowded area at the state prison in Lancaster, Los Angeles County. (Photo: Associated Press)The statewide battle in the airwaves over Tuesday’s ballot propositions has been dominated by health insurance regulation, water works and drug testing doctors, but one measure that would have a far-reaching effect on judicial policy is flying under the radar. Proposition 47 would resentence thousands of California prison inmates imprisoned for nonserious or nonviolent crimes.