Prop47 infographic

In 1971, President Richard Nixon identified drug abuse as a “public enemy number one” and declared a “War on Drugs.”  Rather than treat addiction as a public health issue, Nixon framed addiction as a criminal issue, setting the stage for a failed policy.

The United States now has over 2.5 million people in prison — more prisoners than China, Iran or Russia.  But with recent national, state and local efforts to reverse punitive policies, the tide may be turning.

Yes on Prop 47 volunteers understand that passing this initiative is a huge victory in reforming our prison system

California: An Incarceration Leader

Within the United States, California has been an incarceration leader.  Since 1962, when California had the same crime rate as today, twenty-two new prisons have been built.  California prisons are now bursting at the seams with an inmate population over five times higher than capacity.

As California teetered on the brink of a financial precipice, it stubbornly continued to spend over $62,000 a year per inmate, while simultaneously gutting education programs, human services and treatment programs. 

Dismantling the Failed Policies of the “War on Drugs”

Most recently though, there has been a new emphasis on prevention, education and treatment versus incarceration.  Below is a short list of key policies and laws that will potentially reverse the “Get tough on crime” trend.

• Assembly Bill 109: Re-Alignment, October 2011

The law amended about 500 criminal statutes to eliminate state prison time for low-level offenses.  Instead, offenders are sentenced to county jail or to out-of-custody mandatory supervision.   According to the California Department of Corrections, “[AB 109] is the cornerstone of California’s solution for reducing the number of inmates in the state’s thirty-three prisons.”

• Proposition 36, November 2012

The voter-approved measure revised the “Three Strikes Law” to impose life sentences only when the new felony conviction is “serious or violent.”  It also authorizes resentencing for offenders currently serving life sentences if their third strike offense was not serious or violent.

• Mandatory Minimums, August 2013

The U.S. Justice Department will no longer pursue mandatory minimum sentences for certain low-level, non-violent drug offenses.

• U.S. Sentencing Commission, July 2014

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to slash the sentences of 46,000 inmates serving time for drug offenses. 

• Local Diversion Programs, October 2014

Municipalities and counties across the country are embracing “diversion programs” as an alternative to incarceration.  Los Angeles County just approved a $20 million program to divert people with mental health disorders to treatment centers, rather than jails.

Up Next—Prop 47

The “War on Drugs” resulted in police sweeps, suppression and mass incarceration.  It fueled racial profiling and antagonized community-police relations.  It ripped thousands of families apart and bankrupted school budgets.

But California has yet another opportunity to continue to correct the course on corrections and support education over incarceration.  This November, voters will decide the fate of Proposition 47.  If passed, hundreds of thousands of formerly incarcerated Californians may have their records expunged, 10,000 state inmates may be released, and $1 billion dollars will be redirected to education and treatment over the next five years.  Let’s make history. Visit www.unitedforprop47.com to get more information on how you can volunteer for Prop 47.

1) David Macias, Self-Employed Artist

“I think Prop 47 is going to help people like me and others with turning their felonies into misdemeanors… and hopefully give us a better opportunity in life. If it is a non-violent crime, we should definitely have a chance to clean up our records.  If we’ve done our time, why not give us a second chance to do something better with ourselves and stop holding us back?  We have kids to feed. We have families that are in need.
Having a felony on my record has affected my employment opportunities. I’ve really tried to better my life since I got out of prison.  Hopefully, Prop 47 can help people like me expunge their felonies and find some positive employment.

People who find it difficult finding a job end up saying [forget] it and go back to what they were doing before because it’s so hard for us to get a job.  Expunging a felony could help us and help keep our family together.”

2) Timothy Walker, High School Student

“Our broken prison system is taking money away from our education system and that’s just not right.  We spend $62,000 a year per inmate, but only $9,000 per student.  I think that money could be channeled into something much more useful, like into schools that lack resources.  It could provide more college prep courses, advanced placement courses, scholarships, counselors and support services that a lot of South Los Angeles schools lack.

If schools got these extra resources, I think it would help send more kids to college.  Having more counselors would allow them to actually sit down with each student and provide real support. I’ve seen more than ten of my friends drop out since ninth grade and I know that if they would have had more support at school, they could be seniors right now, just like me.

Putting money into prisons instead of schools is just backwards.  We need to be investing in young people who are our future.  Prop 47 is a start towards getting our priorities right.” 

3) Catherine Clay, Social Service Provider

“Prop 47 is not just important to me but it’s important to my community and the population of women that our clinic serves.  I’m an ambassador for Women’s Community Reintegration Services.  We’re the only all-women’s mental health clinic in L.A. County and we’re also part of the jail linkage system in the Lynwood women’s jail.

Prop 47 will give women who have been arrested for minor offenses the opportunity to come back to the community and qualify for support, like food stamps and housing, so they can get their lives back on track.

So Prop 47 is not only important to me, it’s important to you, your community and future generations.  We can’t let other communities decide this vote for us.  You have no right to complain if you don’t get out and vote.  So let’s get out and vote and make change!” Visit www.unitedforprop47.com to hear other Prop 47 stories.