What should we expect in the realm of prison reform in the new year? Perhaps this premise is better presented as what can we demand in 2018. There are critically important petitions being circulated, which will hopefully be present on the upcoming November ballot. The Governor race will play a significant role, but it’s not yet clear what policy direction we’re headed for. (Vote for John Chiang, folks).
We know that there won’t be any executions in CA in 2018, but the largest condemned population in the Western Hemisphere won’t be shrinking anytime soon. Nationwide, the story is different.
This blogger will be shifting from a student to community organizer role in 2018, while also attempting to secure a civil servant position with the state at the intersection of education & incarceration. With one foot in the grass roots local organization world, and the other in the bureaucratic policy world, 2018 will be a year to be a catalyst for the change that is desperately needed.
It’s utterly disgusting that this beautiful state is a global leader in human caging. CA is on a reformist trajectory, but the pace is slow & easily thrown off course. Abolition remains the moral choice. We must invest in people, not police & prisons. The passion for freedom must be stronger than their walls.
Confronting California's prison crisis 