PROP 36:  Rollback progressive criminal justice reform

It’s no secret that crime has been at the top of Californians’ minds for years now. No matter our zipcode, background, or political party, we all want to feel safe when we go out into our neighborhoods. That’s why, it’s understandable that quick fixes like Prop 36 to address complex issues like public safety may seem appealing. But this dangerous measure would do nothing to deal with why crime happens in the first place. Instead, it would further the harm done to communities of color by making mass incarceration and overcrowding in prisons and jails worse. 

The revolving door that is mass incarceration has for too long worsened public safety in our state. Putting people in jails and prisons does not solve social problems like income inequality, lack of affordable housing, and overdoses. In fact, it only places them in an endless cycle of recidivism, robbing them of the ability to live a life where they can thrive by labeling them as a felon. Once someone has a felony – which would become easier under Prop 36 – they have a harder time getting a job or finding housing, taking away their means of surviving in our world. For many people, this means getting stuck in the cycle of going in and out of incarceration; at best making no improvement to our crime rates, at worst, exacerbating crime. And this failed attempt to tackle crime would cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Not only would this measure be ineffective, it would also further the harm done to BIPOC communities, similar to that of the failed War on Drugs which caused lasting pain and suffering that is still felt today, especially by Black and Latinx communities. Prop 36 would take us back to days of harsh crime policies that voters had already signaled they moved away from when they passed Prop 47 in 2014 – the policy that this measure aims to repeal.

What you won’t hear about from people trying to undo the progress on criminal justice reform is how well Prop 47 has worked over the past 10 years to actually get community members back on their feet by investing in real solutions to crime. The money saved by not incarcerating people for low-level crimes has been put to good use:

• $520 million has gone towards drug and mental health treatment programs and homeless prevention
• $200 million has gone towards Trauma Recovery Centers and victim services
• $80 million has gone towards delinquency prevention programs in schools 

It wouldn’t have been possible for this money to be diverted towards these life-changing programs if Prop 47 hadn’t passed. Now, Prop 36 is threatening to take away all this funding for programs and instead waste taxpayer money on locking people up which does nothing to stop crime from happening.

Californians deserve real answers to crime, not just a reactionary, haphazardly-designed measure that would only take us backwards in the progress we’ve made with criminal justice reform and fail to address the root causes of crime. NO on Prop 36.