Yes on prop 47
Call me a dreamer, go ahead and tell me why I’m wrong, but I think that
Proposition 47 on the ballot in California on Tuesday, Nov. 4, could be the first step in breaking America’s prison industrial complex and the school-to-prison pipeline.
“Yes” on Prop 47, officially named The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014, will change sentencing for some low-level, nonviolent crimes including simple drug possession, petty theft (under $950), and would allow persons currently incarcerated for such offense to apply for resentences.
The financial savings—projected in the hundreds of millions—from reducing prison populations would be diverted into mental health and drug treatment programs, K–12 schools, and to crime victims.
Passing this initiative and proving this model successful could be a first step to reforming our prisons, investing in education to prevent incarceration, and strengthening our mental health and substance abuse programs.
Showing that this is a successful model could push other states to follow suite, which could reduce our nation’s incarceration addiction. America accounts for 5% of the world population yet we have 25% of the worlds prisoners.
The War on Drugs, while not the only factor, has added to an increase in our prison populations from 1980-2008. Since 1980, the rate of incarcerated people in America quadrupled to over 2.3 million people. This increase disproportionately affects people of color. In 2008, 58% of prisoners were black or Hispanic, despite being only about 23% of the total population.
Rather than spend money on mass incarceration, this proposal will reinvest the savings in education, which will provide youth with an opportunity for a better future and can keep young adults out of jail. Providing better opportunities and reducing incarceration for petty crimes will go a long way towards breaking the school-to-prison pipeline and will provide a brighter future for youth who won't have felony convictions, which often prevent good workforce opportunities.
Reinvesting and strengthening our mental health and substance abuse problems invests in people, not prisoners. Often these programs are more successful at rehabilitation than incarceration.
Less than 14% of victims of violent crimes receive support from victim services agencies. Reinvesting in victim services can go a long way in helping crime victims heal, particularly those who cannot afford counseling services on their own.
If “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014” passes and becomes successful, our country may have a path to addressing systemic racism, over-incarceration, and provide a better education to those youth who need it the most. We would have a successful model to take to other states around the country.
Passing Prop 47 reinvests in people and begins to deconstruct some of the worst systems we’ve created in America.
If you are in California, please go vote “Yes” on Prop 47. Not just for California, but for the country.