Three Strikes Law in 1994, the Moratorium of the Death Penalty in 2019 and the
Conversion of California Prisons into Rehabilitation Centers in 2023
How Have California Prisons Adapted to All These Changes?
Jackie Phillips
Criminology, Post University
CRJ405 Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice Unit 4 Peer Review Article Summary
Dr. Lyndon Godsall
Due: 11:59 pm Sunday of Unit 4
For your Final Project, you will have to find four peer reviewed articles that will be supportive of your topic that you introduced in Week 2.
Topic:
How has the passage of the Three Strikes Law in 1994, the moratorium of the Death Penalty in 2019 and the Conversion of California prisons into Rehabilitation Centers in 2005 changed prisons in California? How have the Corrections and Rehabilitation budgets changed in 20 Years to adjust to all these changes?
First Article:
Three Strikes Turns 30 in California and stories from prisoners:
Sawyer, K., 2023, Prison Journalism Project, Stories of Freedom and Denial as Three Strikes Turns 30 in California
What I found fascinating about this article compared to others is that the article is directly about other inmates and their personal interactions with the Three Strikes Law and how it affected their time in prison. Numerous inmates talk about their experiences both in and out of prison. Finally, the group who maintains the website Prison Journalism Project also trains incarcerated inmates to be writers and journalists to help tell their story and the stories of others. This follows along with the conversion of prisons from incarceration to rehabilitation.
I think it is always a great idea to show that inmates are human beings, and we should all keep in mind that they need support both inside the walls of the prison and outside to help them to become better people
Second Article:
San Quentin prison transforms into rehabilitation center after Moratorium on Death Penalty
Halpert, M, 2024, BBC, San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row
What key data will you be using for your research?
There are many articles all about the transformation of San Quentin to the state’s first Rehabilitative Prison. This is drawing a lot of attention since San Quentin is California’s oldest prison and also the only Death Row in the state. There is also a lot of attention on where all the Death Row prisoners will be eventually moved to since they are not scheduled for release, unlike other prisoners who are planned to go through rehabilitation at San Quentin and eventually released.
How do you think this article will play a role in your final research?
This article is great because it involves not only San Quentin and the buildings and their rehabilitation, which is quite extensive, but it also talks about the inmates and their important lives. I know that not many people think that Death Row inmates are important, but, despite their mistakes in life, they are still human beings and need to be treated with respect and consideration. This article brings these important details to the front.
What are the 3 most important facts do you think this article covers?
First, it is important to recognize that rehabilitation of prisons is very important, and it is a great first move that California is taking this step towards improvement.
Second, it is a good idea to recognize that transferring these inmates from San Quentin to another facility could cause a lot of stress and confusion to both the inmates and the new prisons where the inmates will be transferred to.
Third, this article describes the upgrades and improvements that the building will be receiving to become a new facility offering new training and rehabilitation and improvements. There are descriptions by some inmates about the broken ceilings and rampant pests like rats and wild birds that get inside the buildings since the facility is actually jutting out into the San Francisco Bay and is exposed to all weather and creatures.
Third Article:
How has the Moratorium of the Death Penalty in California affected the prisons?
Kendrick, P. 2024, Corrections 1, California County Opposes the Transfer of San Quentin Death Row Inmates,
“In 2020, a year after Newsom placed a moratorium on the death penalty, the state began to transfer condemned inmates out of San Quentin. Over the next two years, California moved 104 people from San Quentin and the Central California Women’s Facility to other state prisons as part of a pilot program. The state announced in March it’s planning to build on that program and turn the infamous San Quentin prison into a Scandinavian-style prison focused on rehabilitation.”
This article shows the twist in what happens when a Death Row prison is closed for executions and changed to a different type of prison, despite decades as a Death Row prison. On the outside it seems like a great idea until it is shown what happens to all the prisoners who were already at San Quentin. They were all moved to other prisons, which then puts an increased burden on prisons who were already full. In addition, the prisons may need additional structural improvements to hold the increased load that it was not prepared for.
It is a great idea to remove the Death Penalty as an option for prisoners, and the state needs to make sure that the prisons in the rest of the state, including county and city jails, are funded properly to help them to support the increased population. This could include needing more staff and medical support
Fourth Article
How have the Corrections and Rehabilitation budgets changed in 20 Years to adjust to all these changes?
O’Neil, Caitlin, 2020, Legislative Analyst Office, State Correctional Spending Increased Despite Significant Population Reductions,
“Over the past decade, the state has taken various actions that have significantly reduced the number of inmates and parolees under the supervision of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Most notably, legislation was enacted in 2011 that shifted (or realigned) the responsibility for certain offenders from the state to counties. This was done to help the state comply with a federal court order to reduce prison overcrowding, as well as reduce state costs. Voters have also approved a series of ballot measures that have impacted the inmate population, such as reducing penalties for certain offenders convicted of nonserious and nonviolent property and drug crimes. Since the implementation of the these and other policy changes, the state’s inmate population declined by nearly one‑quarter and the parolee population declined by nearly one‑half. However, over the same period, CDCR spending increased by over $3 billion, or more than one‑third.”
I found this interesting because the article focused on the budget for the state, but in the article, it was made clear that many inmates were being shifted from the state to counties and their prisons. I think it would be interesting to find out if the budgets of the counties have increased to adjust to the changes in the state prisons.
I found this statistical information interesting, and it appears that the prisons are being forced to follow court orders to increase health care, beyond their choices.
“Improvements to Inmate Health Care Have Been Costly. In order to comply with court orders in the Plata and Coleman cases, the state substantially expanded inmate medical and mental health care services over the past several years. As a result, CDCR spending on inmate health care increased by about $1.4 billion (66 percent)—from about $2.2 billion in 2010‑11 to an estimated $3.6 billion in 2019‑20. Much of this increase is due to increased staffing. For example, the number of health care positions per inmate has nearly doubled—from 0.06 in 2010‑11 to 0.11 in 2018‑19 (the most recent complete data available). We note, however, that the number of non‑health care staff declined over the same time period.
References:
Sawyer, K., 2023, Prison Journalism Project, Stories of Freedom and Denial as Three Strikes Turns 30 in California, https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2023/08/16/three-strikes-law-approaches-30th-anniversary/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20080253884&gbraid=0AAAAAo-SeB4OlcDSZy_BTD3kYb9HixCTN&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoP_FBhDFARIsANPG24NehnRgQUrNnDOd6BLLjkToBVlOQGnAVDhyHHQcwyj3e6tbMfs3PF0aApqtEALw_wcB
Halpert, M, 2024, BBC, San Quentin begins prison reform - but not for those on death row, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68558967
Kendrick, P. 2024, Corrections 1, California County Opposes the Transfer of San Quentin Death Row Inmates, https://www.corrections1.com/jail-management/calif-county-opposes-transfer-of-san-quentin-death-row-inmates
O’Neil, Caitlin, 2020, Legislative Analyst Office, State Correctional Spending Increased Despite Significant Population Reductions, https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4145#:~:text=44%20percent).-,Despite%20Population%20Reduction%2C%20CDCR%20Spending%20Increased,of%20more%20than%20one%20factor.
Zhu, Y., 2024, Beyond the Bars: A Transformative Prison Environment for Sociopathic Inmates, https://issuu.com/yuying.zhu/docs/final_thesis_book_yuying_zhu_issuu
No comments:
Post a Comment