California’s Criminal Justice Realignment

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Findings
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Introduction

California has passed a bill to reduce the number of prisons. The state considers this a big step towards serious judicial reform, because the number of people in custody will decrease. My research question is to find out how this Realignment was a viable remedy to the California prison system overcrowding. We should care about the question because overcrowding in places of detention is a serious humanitarian problem. Such conditions restrict the rights and freedoms of prisoners. They increase the potential for conflict situations and circumstances that can lead to destabilization of the operational situation inside correctional institutions.

It is important to know the answer to decide whether to apply prison reductions in regions where the problem of overcrowding is particularly sensitive. The confirmation or refutation of the effectiveness of the mechanism used in California depends on its further application to solve an acute problem. When investigating the similar research question previous scholars have found that the reform used in California has serious drawbacks. In particular, when the area of detention was reduced, there was no significant reduction in crime.

The basic themes I use as headings in my literature review area are the humanity of prison reductions, the consequences of reforming the penitentiary system and access to justice. The current research is missing research regarding the assessment of how the implementation of the prison system reform program takes into account the needs of society. In this paper, I will use empirical research methods, namely the study of scientific research and the analysis of the information received. This proposed study will advance knowledge and fill holes in the current research record by focusing on the new aspect of the problem. Instead of using the number of prisoners per square meter as indicators of overpopulation, the conditions of detention will serve as a guideline in this work.

Literature Review

Intro

The independent variable in this research is the number of prisons. The two dependent variables are the number of prisoners and their conditions of detention. The existing research says that there are currently six prison facilities in California. Moreover, according to researchers, there are 9 prisoners per one employee of the penitentiary system in California (Bartos and Kubrin 2018). In addition, according to the report, California is among the five states with the highest proportion of female prisoners (Bird, Nguyen, and Grattet 2021). Researchers claim that this is a special group of prisoners who need certain conditions.

The existing experience of reducing the number of prisons in California is of some interest to researchers. The three trends in the research record are primarily a discussion of the humanity of keeping prisoners in new conditions. The articles attempt to study a number of humanitarian problems of the detention of citizens of California (Bird, Nguyen, and Grattet 2021). Also, existing studies discuss the consequences of reforming the penitentiary system both for the prisoners themselves and for society (Lin 2018). The third trend that can be noticed in research is the raising of the issue of methods for reducing prisoners (Grattet, Bird, and Nguyen 2017). The authors are concerned about the associated reduction in access to justice.

Humanity of Prison Reductions

The gaps in the current state of knowledge related to this research question are connected with the fact that numerical values are usually provided in research. For example, overcrowding in California prisons is proved by calculating the population density or the number of employees per inmate (Bartos and Kubrin 2018). However, the studies do not use comparisons of the compliance of the content of the execution of punishment with international standards in this area. The deterioration of the order of serving sentences for California convicts is not determined by the conditions of their imprisonment. The worsening of the medical and sanitary and material support of convicts mentioned in the studies is brief and insignificant (Bartos and Kubrin 2018). They are not described in sufficient detail and are mainly presented in the form of numerical values.

The sources of uncertainty are the criteria by which it is necessary to determine the humanitarian well-being of prisoners. With the reduction in the number of prisons in California, the number of people per institution has increased (Bird, Nguyen, and Grattet 2021). However, scientists cannot come to a consensus on how much should be spent on food and personal belongings of prisoners per month (Welsh 2019). There are also disagreements about the area of the cell and the location of the beds (Bird, Nguyen, and Grattet 2021). In addition, there are different points of view regarding the need to take into account the psychological state of prisoners (Grattet, Bird, and Nguyen 2017). Any discrimination can become one of the criteria for increased density.

Consequences of Reforming the Penitentiary System

It is known that reducing the number of prison buildings is not equivalent to reducing the number of persons serving a criminal sentence. However, it has not yet been fully investigated how the reform affected prisoners. The opinions of scientists were divided as to how the changes affected compliance with international penitentiary standards (Welsh 2019). The list of problems faced by the California penitentiary system is not fully defined (Bartos and Kubrin 2018). There is a normative consolidation of the rights of prisoners, but the possibility of practical implementation and protection of the rights and legitimate interests of convicts remains unclear.

The sources of disagreement are the assessment of the problems of ensuring the conditions of serving sentences in California correctional institutions and ways to solve them. Some scientists are not sure that the problems that have arisen in the execution of custodial sentences face the same problems (Grattet, Bird, and Nguyen 2017). Some researchers believe that as a result of the reform, the conditions of detention have ceased to comply with the normative ones (Lin 2018). Other scientists tend to think that California prisons have strict conditions of detention, but do not violate international norms (Bird, Nguyen, and Grattet 2021). Therefore, there is a certain interest in the organization of ensuring the regime and safety of prisoners in California prisons from the point of view of the prisoners themselves.

Access to Justice

Scientists agree that it is possible to avoid overcrowding in prisons in conditions of a reduction in their number only with a decrease in the crime rate. However, it is not known which mechanisms to achieve this goal will be really effective. Some researchers advocate the humanization and improvement of criminal legislation (Bartos and Kubrin 2018). Other scientists see the threat that the introduction of forced labor instead of imprisonment will lead to the opposite effect (Welsh 2019). Mitigation of punishment may cause an increase in motivation to commit criminally punishable crimes. Eventually, this will lead to overcrowding of prisons.

Experts disagreed: some believe that the decrease in the number of people in prison is not due to a decrease in the growth of crime. They support the policy of consistent humanization of criminal penalties implemented in California (Bartos and Kubrin 2018). Other researchers fear an increase in violent crimes associated with mitigation of punishment (Bird, Nguyen, and Grattet 2021). They claim that there are no fewer offenders, punishments have become less severe. The number of convicts in the colonies is getting smaller, but the number of persons registered with the criminal executive inspections is increasing. Thus, it is not fully understood how the liberalization of penal enforcement policy affects the number of prisoners in California.

Summary

The research proposal of this paper aims to study the conditions of detention of prisoners in California prisons in order to compare them with established international standards. The data specified in the official documentation will be taken as the criterion of the prison overcrowding. Crime statistics will also be compared before and after the implementation of the reform in California. Based on statistics, a potential increase in the level of crimes in the future will be predicted using a special computer program.

Methodology

Independent data – the number of prisons – will be needed after calculating the further increase in crimes according to statistics. Dividing them by the number of prisons, it will be possible to predict the possibility of overpopulation of California prisons in the near future. Dependent variables – the conditions of detention of prisoners and their number – will be used to determine the compliance of imprisonment in California with international standards. Indicators such as the area of residential premises, as well as the presence of conditions of detention that may cause discrimination, will be considered.

To collect data, I plan to use various international documents containing standards for the detention of prisoners. I will also use crime data published on the official websites of California and state executive agencies. In order to collect information about the conditions of detention, it seems to me important to pay attention to the testimony of the prisoners themselves, so I will use interviews with them. I will mainly turn to video interviews to pay attention not only to verbal, but also to non-verbal signals. In addition, in this way I will be able to give an approximate external description of the prisoner’s condition. Accordingly, if there are signs of obvious physical and mental distress, it will be possible to assert non-compliance with the standards of detention, which in most cases arise as a result of overcrowding in prisons.

I have a research hypothesis about the nature and direction of the relationship between my independent and dependent variables. I think that by dividing the number of criminals by the number of prisons in California, I can calculate their occupancy. Further, to obtain the value of another variable – the conditions of detention – it is necessary to use numerical values of the area of premises in the building, the number of employees, funding per prisoner.

I do not have sufficient psychological knowledge to conduct a survey with prisoners. Some of them may intentionally describe the conditions of detention as unbearable in order to shorten their time in places of restriction of freedom. Therefore, it seems to me more appropriate to analyze existing interviews with California prisoners recorded on video. Thus, it will be possible, based on the behavior of the convict, to determine whether he is experiencing psychological or physical discomfort, indicating violations of the conditions of detention and overpopulation. This study is a trend, since the signs of improper conditions of detention appear quite quickly and persist for a long time.

Findings

Official statistics show that the number of prisoners in California colonies has significantly decreased and has become minimal. However, crime rates have not decreased: they continue to grow. Many crimes have been decriminalized, which has caused an increase in their commission. Instead of imprisonment, criminals are punished with compulsory, correctional and forced labor. The area of the prison divided by the number of prisoners obtained according to statistics is less than the values prescribed by international standards. Prisoners in interviews have signs of uncomfortable confinement, such as excessive thinness, dark circles under the eyes, strangled speech and monosyllabic answers.

Discussion

The findings obtained confirm the hypothesis that the unsatisfactory physical and mental condition of prisoners indicates a violation of conditions of detention and overpopulation. Statistics show that, indeed, the replacement of imprisonment with more lenient punishments has not solved the problem of overcrowding in prisons. On the contrary, the system proved to be ineffective, as the number of more serious crimes increased. The appearance of the prisoners showed that they lacked the allocated funding, and the conditions of detention did not correspond to satisfactory. Thus, the reform of the prison system in California has shown itself to be an ineffective way to combat the problem of overcrowding in prisons. The reduction in the number of prisons has only exacerbated the existing problem, even despite the introduction of legislative initiatives to mitigate penalties.

Conclusion

The decrease in the number of prisons in California did not lead to a solution to the problem of overpopulation, since it did not affect the cause of the problem, but only its result. First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to preventive work. The root of most crimes should be sought in economic and social inequality, which leads to the marginalization of society. The majority of prisoners around the world end up in prison from socially disadvantaged families. Often such people live in conditions of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, which in turn contributes to the destruction of families, the narcosis of society and alcohol abuse. Conducting a fair social policy and receiving public support for people below the poverty line in California would be more effective, since they would affect the cause of the problem, not its result.

References

Bartos, Bradley, and Charis Kubrin. 2018. ” Can We Downsize Our Prisons and Jails Without Compromising Public Safety: Findings from California’s Prop 47.” Criminology and Public Policy 17 (3): 693-715.

Bird, Mia, Viet Nguyen, and Ryken Grattet. 2021. ” Realignment and Recidivism Revisited: A Closer Look at the Effects of California’s Historic Correctional Reform on Recidivism Outcomes.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 665 (1): 177-196.

Grattet, Ryken, Mia Bird, and Viet Nguyen. 2017. ” California Jails under Realignment and Proposition 47.” California Journal of Politics and Policy 9 (3): 1-15.

Lin, Jeffrey. 2018. ” The Diversity of Decarceration: Examining First-Year County Realignment Spending in California.” Criminal Justice Policy Review 29 (8): 242-246.

Welsh, Megan. 2019. ” How Formerly Incarcerated Women Confront the Limits of Caring and the Burdens of Control Amid California’s Carceral Realignment.” Feminist Criminology 14 (1): 89-114.

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