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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:22 pm
Time: 8:22 pm
Results for criminal justice systems (california)
2 results foundAuthor: Vermeire, Diana Tate Title: Balancing the Scales of Justice: An Exploration into How Lack of Education, Employment, and Housing Opportunities Contribute to Disparities in the Criminal Justice System Summary: At a time of growing need, California continues to slash basic safety net programs and underfund public education and other critical services. The state’s criminal justice system, however, does not turn anyone away. It has evolved into society’s catchall institution. As a result, California’s criminal justice system has experienced historic growth and a correlating mass incarceration of racial and ethnic minorities over the past 30 years. Consequently, people of color are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, and the number of women in the criminal justice system is increasing at a disproportionate rate. Systemic bias within the criminal justice system contributes to this disproportionality, but it is not the sole cause of the expansion of the system and the disparities within the system. Instead, the racial, ethnic, and gender disparities found within our criminal justice system are created in part by external socio-economic factors. External socio-economic factors, including adequate educational, employment, and housing opportunities, protect privileged individuals from contact with the criminal justice system. However, for those living in concentrated areas of poverty, especially racial and ethnic minorities, lack of access to basic necessities such as quality education, employment, and housing, increases the likelihood of criminal justice system contact. Moreover, the interventions meant to address socio-economic inequities are failing and as a result the criminal justice system is assuming the responsibilities of these failed governmental programs and agencies. With significant budget cuts for all social service institutions, the number of individuals served and the scope of available services continues to decrease. Socio-economic inequities contribute to disparities in the criminal justice system. Yet, due to a lack of data and research, it is impossible to measure the force and impact of these external factors on criminal justice system involvement and the extent to which they exacerbate the systemic and institutional bias and racism within the criminal justice system. Details: San Francisco: ACLU of Northern California and the W. Haywood Burns Institute, 2010. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2011 at: http://www.aclunc.org/docs/racial_justice/balancing_the_scales_of_justice.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.aclunc.org/docs/racial_justice/balancing_the_scales_of_justice.pdf Shelf Number: 121702 Keywords: BiasCriminal Justice Systems (California)EducationEmploymentHousingMinoritiesRacial DisparitiesSocioeconomic Status |
Author: Hopper, Allen Title: Public Safety Realignment: California at a Crossroads Summary: California is at a criminal justice crossroads. After decades of “tough on crime” policies and draconian sentencing practices, the state correctional system—one of the largest incarcerators in the largest incarcerating country in the world—finally buckled under its own weight. Faced with a historic U.S. Supreme Court order requiring the state to reduce overcrowding, California made a momentous decision: it would no longer take into state facilities or under state custody most people convicted of low-level, non-violent offenses, instead tasking counties with dealing with these individuals at the local level. Legislatively codified as the Public Safety Realignment Act, or Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109), this major policy shift has put California’s 58 counties in the driver’s seat. Each county will choose its own path, but their futures are intertwined. Poor implementation in one county will inevitably affect others. All will affect California taxpayers. The ACLU has conducted an in-depth review of all 53 available county realignment implementation plans, and we have analyzed the statutory changes and related state laws and budget allocations. We have identified four major interrelated themes: • A troubling lack of state monitoring, data collection, outcome measurements and funding incentives to help counties successfully implement realignment. • A dramatic increase in spending on county jails—facilitated by billions of dollars in state funding—particularly in those counties that have historically sent more people to state prison for low-level, non-violent offenses. • A shockingly high number of people who present no real threat to public safety being held in county jails before having their day in court, incarcerated without trial simply because they cannot afford bail. • A promising commitment—though not yet realized—by many counties to adopt alternatives to incarceration and evidence-based practices to reduce recidivism. A few counties are adopting innovative programs and approaches that can serve as models for the rest of the state, but all too often our analysis revealed few, if any, resources allocated for such programs. Details: San Francisco: American Civil Liberties Union of California, 2012. 112p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2012 at: http://aclusandiego.org/article_downloads/001251/Public%20Safety%20Realignment%20FINAL%20.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://aclusandiego.org/article_downloads/001251/Public%20Safety%20Realignment%20FINAL%20.pdf Shelf Number: 124645 Keywords: Criminal Justice Systems (California)Prison OvercrowdingPrisons |