Major events that could have helped contribute to the overcrowding in California prisons
Created by alexiskenyon on Sep 30, 2011
Last updated: 10/03/11 at 10:17 AM
Tags: Prison California History Realignment
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California redirects up to 30,000 "nonviolent" prisoners out of state prisons into local facilities.
Federal judges order California to release 40,000 prisoners. The Supreme Court holds that the conditions in California's overcrowded prisons are so poor that they violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Prop 66, an initiative to reform the Three Strikes law, sought to overhaul the law allowing sentences of 25 years-to-life only if the third felony conviction was for a serious or violent crime. The way the law works now largely disregards the type of felony for third strikers. A person committing their third felony, even if the offense is something like shoplifting, faces up to life in prison.
California returns 30 times more parolees to prison than it did 20 years ago. Nearly two-thirds of California prisons admissions are for parole violations, compared to about one-third nationally.
California’s prison system shoots from about .1% of population to about 4.6% of the state’s total population from 1980 to 2000. To accommodate the skyrocketing prison population the state builds 23 new prisons in under 20 years. Each prison costs around $280 to $350 million to build. Just for context, from 1852 to 1964 the state of California had constructed a total of 12 prisons.
California’s Little Hoover Commission finds “that county jails and state prisons do not have the adequate space to house inmates and adequate plans do not exist to deal with the crisis.”
Under California's "Three Strikes Law", if a person is convicted of any felony, and has two or more "strikes," he or she may be sentenced to at least 25-years-to-life in state prison. Passed in the wake of the violent murders of 18 year-old Kimber Reynolds and 12-year-old Polly Klaas by men with criminal records. California courts intended for the law to stop violent recidivist offenders by creating a hard and fast rule for offenses.
President Ronald Reagan signs a drug bill which allocates $1.7 billion to fight the nation's drug war. The bill determines a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses. The policy is greatly criticized because of its differentiation of crack and powder cocaine which is said to promote significant racial disparities. In the nation’s largest cities, drug arrests for African Americans rises at three times the rate for whites from 1980 to 2003. Nancy Reagan continues to promote her "Just Say No" campaign.
California passes 1000 crimes bills in reaction to particular crimes. For example, in 1987 California legislature passes a law in order to quench the public's thirst for a harsher punishment of drive-by-shooting. The legislation more more severely punishes a shooter if he or she is inside the car as opposed to outside of the car. In California's system of determinate sentencing these bills could potentially lessen prison stays by creating more specific legislation for each crime. However, the bills largely enhance penalties and increase violators' time in prison.
California Correctional Peace Officers Association is formed and replaces California Correctional Officers Association. The union, headed by then president Don Novey, is considered one of the most powerful unions in California.
California votes to approve Proposition 8, "Victim's Bill of Rights." In 2008, California amended the law (Marsey's law) so that parole denials can be imposed for 7, 10 and even 15 years. Before 2008, even for convicted murderers max parole denial was 5 years.
Prop 13 limits the state's ability to increase property tax. Howard Jarvis, an anti-tax crusader, roused California's anger over rising property-tax assessments. Prop 13 includes a two-thirds vote requirement for the passage of any new taxes in California, making a increased obstacle to funding state institutions like prisons, education, freeways and mental health programs.
California legislature eliminates “indeterminate” sentencing for all prisoners except for those with life sentences. The state goes from being forerunner in “correctional,” to a leader in “retributive” incarceration. The state expands upon the non-discretionary sentences in later decades by including a “Three strikes you’re out law”(1994). Jerry Brown is in his second year of office as California Governor.
As World War II comes to a close, California embarks on a mission to reform its prison system with a new emphasis on “correction” and “rehabilitation.” Headed by future Supreme Court Justice and California Governor, Earl Warren, and correctional expert Richard McGee, the state “reasoned that if the Allies could defeat fascism abroad, surely California could transform socially and psychologically afflicted offenders into well-adjusted, law-abiding citizens.” (Joshua Page, “The Toughest Beat.")
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