Gov. Brown Urges Californians to Support Criminal Justice Reforms

Gov. Jerry Brown today called on voters to pass a slate of criminal justice reforms that would give some nonviolent offenders an easier path to parole and take decisions on how to try juveniles out of the hands of prosecutors.

Brown is seeking to get the “Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016” on the November ballot. If passed, it would reform legislation passed over the last several decades, including sentencing restrictions Brown himself passed during his first stint as governor.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Brown advocated for reforms to when certain nonviolent inmates would become eligible for release. Inmates convicted of multiple nonviolent offenses or serving extra time for enhancements could be paroled after their first sentence was completed. The move would affect thousands of inmates, Brown said.

To help them achieve parole - and have a better chance at leading a law-abiding life once released - the act would create new credits toward parole for education, sobriety and other rehabilitative achievements, Brown said.

In advocating for the reform, Brown is seeking to undo part of a 1977 law he signed during his first term as governor that removed much of the discretion afforded parole boards and gave California a system of set sentences for particular crimes. Brown acknowledged today that the law had “unintended consequences,” including not giving inmates incentives for rehabilitation. But this year’s ballot initiative would not substantially change how prisoners are sentenced and would primarily affect people convicted of multiple crimes, such as those serving time for their second nonviolent strike under the three strikes law.

One population who would not be affected is anyone convicted of a violent felony. Brown said he considered including them but found it extremely unpopular when consulting with law enforcement officials. “It met with near-universal disinterest on the part of sheriffs, police chiefs, probation people and the district attorneys,” Brown said. “It became a non-starter.”

The initiative would also reverse 2000’s Proposition 21, which gave prosecutors authority to try certain crimes by juveniles over the age of 14 in adult court. If passed, the act would put such decisions back in the hands of judges, who would be free to consider the offender’s criminal history, maturity and criminal sophistication in determining whether adult court was appropriate.

Police chiefs, probation officers and district attorneys joined Brown in praising aspects of the reforms. Mary Butler, Napa County’s chief probation officer and vice president of the Chief Probation Officers of California, said that her organization is still determining its official position on Brown’s proposals, but that she generally supports the goals of giving prisoners more rehabilitative opportunities.

“All of these offenders will be coming back to our communities and our communities will be safer if we equip them with the necessary tools when they come out,” Butler said.

The reforms would also help California maintain compliance with a court-imposed cap on prison population ordered by a panel of three federal judges in 2009. Since then, the state has reduced the prison population from a peak of 162,500 inmates in 2006 to 112,510 as of December - about a thousand prisoners below the cap.

Many nonviolent offenders were moved from state prisons to county jails as part of the state’s realignment program, and the reforms would help keep the pressure off the jails as well, Brown said.

Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck supports the reform efforts, saying they will help keep the focus of the criminal justice system on the worst offenders rather than those who have a chance at rehabilitation.

“I believe in rehabilitation. I believe that we can improve folks’ behavior through the proper incentives and programs,” Beck said. “I think that this will effectively open up bed space (in jails) for people who richly deserve to be there rather than ones whose lives we can change.”

Deacon Clyde Davis of the California Catholic Conference of Bishops said that he still believes in the possibility of reform after 21 years working as a chaplain in jails and prisons. “The position of the Catholic church is everyone can be rehabilitated given the proper effort,” Davis said. “It has to come from their hearts ultimately. They have to want to change ... but giving them incentives to start the process is extremely important.”

--Bay City News