Since California voters passed Proposition 47, which downgrades drug possession and other nonviolent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, up to 10,000 prisoners could qualify for early release from state prisons. From now on, courts will probably give out about 40,000 fewer felony convictions annually, reports the Latin Post. http://www.latinpost.com/articles/25468/20141108/california-prop-47-10-000-prisoners-to-be-released-from-california-state-prisons-due-to-proposition-47.htm
Prison reform advocates as well as friends of family of those who are incarcerated rejoiced when the measure was passed on November 4. This will ease the burden on overcrowded prisons and send many nonviolent offenders home to their families. Additionally, the money saved will be used for mental health services, victim support, and education—potentially preventing nonviolent offenders from repeating crimes more effectively than doling out stiffer prison sentences.
This comes at a time when many are weary of California’s “three strikes” law, which requires that offenders who have committed three felonies receive much longer prison sentences, often 25 years to life in prison.
Heated debate about the three strikes law and California’s worsening budget concerns brought Prop 47 to the forefront of state and even national debate. It’s debatable whether the three strikes law has discouraged people from committing crime, but many analysts consider it ineffective in preventing crime. Plus it reduces and often eliminates prisoners’ desire to rehabilitate and feel hope for the future. Why change if you’re always going to have to be locked up away from your loved ones?
Thankfully, with the passing of Prop 47, there is hope for up to 10,000 offenders. Changing their sentences from a felony to a misdemeanor conviction will likely not only open the doors of the prisons but the doors to their hearts—giving them hope for the future. Many families can’t wait to receive their loved ones back at home and help them restart their lives on the right foot. Additionally, with a felony conviction scrubbed from their records, they’ll have many more opportunities for useful employment open to them. In the public eye, there’s a huge difference between a felony and misdemeanor conviction, and offenders will likely be more smoothly integrated back into society with the lighter penalty on their records.
California is leading the nation in terms of prison reform—no other state has passed such a widespread measure to reduce prison sentences. Hopefully many other states will pass similar measures so that nonviolent offenders can go back to their families and on to productive, healthy lives.
