CRJ405 Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice Research
Topic Introduction Unit 2:
How Has the Three Strikes Law and Moratorium of the Death Penalty Affected California’s Prisons?
Jackie Phillips
Criminology Department, Post University
Dr. Lyndon Godsall
Due: Midnight Sunday of Unit 2
CRJ405 Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice Research Topic Introduction: Unit 2
This is the first section of your Final Project. Please write the introduction portion of your final research project, proposing a non-experimental research topic rooted in a law enforcement issue.
This paper should include the following topics:
Identify an agency or organization, where you would like to implement a law enforcement initiative with an organization in the private or public sector organization such as a police department, an educational/civic – police partnership, state or federal agency.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) runs the state's prisons and parole systems in California. The CDCR oversees both the operation of the adult state prisons and the care of the state's incarcerated population, while also being responsible for rehabilitative programs and parole supervision to help offenders reintegrate into society.
The prison population continues to grow and expand due to the passage of the Three Strikes law passed in 1994. In addition, in 2019, there was a moratorium on the Death Penalty by Governor Newson as a means of punishment.
Is the Corrections Department being properly run and expanded and funded to properly handle the expanded populations due to these two issues?
Provide a description of this organization (size, demographics, jurisdiction, purpose)
The CDCR owns and operates 34 adult state prisons and a variety of other correctional facilities.
The department also supervises adult offenders released to parole.
A key component of the CDCR's mission is to provide rehabilitative services, such as job training and education, to prepare incarcerated individuals for successful reentry into the community.
The CDCR aims to improve public safety through secure incarceration and effective parole supervision.
The need for this initiative.
Key Funding Aspects
General Fund:
The vast majority of the CDCR budget comes from the General Fund, which is California's main source of revenue.
Funding Categories:
The budget covers various expenditures, including:
Operations: Salaries, benefits, and support services for correctional facilities.
Health Services: Medical, dental, and mental health care for incarcerated individuals.
“It’s propelled by lucrative employee compensation deals and costly mandates to improve health care behind bars, according to fiscal analyses by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. Newsom’s most recent budget proposal includes $18.1 billion for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, up from $15.7 billion when he took office in 2019.” (Hwang, K. and Duara, N, 2024)
“The average cost per person for medical care has more than doubled in the past 10 years, and total health care spending by the corrections department has increased by about 67 percent. Although the recent prison closures have cut about 2,700 correctional positions, medical spending has eaten up those savings.” (Hwang, K. and Duara, N, 2024)
Define the stakeholders of the initiative, including the target audience.
Per this chart the population of the prisons have decreased, but the expenses have increased due to increased pay for employees and medical staff.
“Former Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, said corrections is the only state program where having fewer people translates into more spending. In 2022 Ting proposed closing three more prisons to bring down fixed costs and account for the shrinking number of prisoners.” (Hwang, K. and Duara, N, 2024)
References
Hwang, K. and Duara, N, 2024, Governing.com, California’s Spending Per Inmate Hits a New Record, https://www.governing.com/finance/californias-spending-per-inmate-hits-a-new-record
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