The Impact of California’s Prison Reform Essay Example

from this pressure (In Kubrin, In Seron, & American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2016). This has made it simple for correction facilities to take good care of an individual who are sent to prisons for a much longer sentence.

Other than lowering Crime, the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 also helped in reducing sentences to a high population of offenders who were convicted of nonsexual, non-serious and non-violent crimes by referring them as misdemeanors. In essence, this move helped in removing pressure in correction facilities that reduced risky behaviors among criminal housed offenders (Petersilia & Greenlick, 2013). An increase in violence, depression, overcrowding and overheating is some of the issues resulting in congestion of offenders in prisons. Therefore, removing petty offenders from correction facilities reduced the pressures that lower risky behaviors such as suicide or sexual violence within the facilities (Lofstrom & Raphael, 2016). Therefore, the prison reform was a great plan in saving offenders from suicide, depression, and violence within these establishments.

In addition, the prison reforms in California prisons have implemented colored signs or codes that differentiate ethnic origins among prisoners. For example, White color represents the whites, Blue for black inmates, Pink, Green or red for Hispanic and yellow color for other offenders. The colors are used as a visual cue that gives prison officers an easy time to prevent any race-based victimization, prevent assaults and theft and reduce race-based violence (Verma, 2016). According to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, it also helps in investigating the primary influences of criminal activities between different races. It also guides in knowing the number of people from a given race who are caught

with non-violence or non-serious cases and therefore work to lower the criminal behaviors.

Despite the projection that the strategy would save the country from the heavy budget, it is claimed that the move has a negative impact on taxpayers but have a positive impact on offenders. For example, five years ago, housing, feeding, protecting and caring for an inmate in a correction facility took $49,000 annually, but currently, the price has risen to about $64,000 per prisoner annually. Regardless of the fact that the reform has reduced overcrowding, lowered crime and reduced risk behaviors among inmates. Adoption of alternative methods to handle offenders has pressed hard on tax payer’s pockets (Prison Policy Initiative, 2016).

Discussion of the issue

Overcrowding was one of the major factors affecting Prisoners and correction facilities in California. Implementation of Prison’s reform, a strategy aimed at lowering the number of offenders housed in correction facilities brought in both positive and negative impacts to taxpayers and offenders. For example, it is believed that the system saved more than $438 million the first year but has since increased the budget due to the adoption of alternative imprisonment strategies (Sutton, 2013). On the other, the strategy has reduced the pressure that was placed on correction centers following mass incarceration of individuals.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, implementation of this reform has reduced violent and property criminal cases in the society. First, the reform ensured the release of offenders who were well rehabilitated and ready to get integrated into the society. According to a study conducted and presented by the Stanford Law School, only 1.3% of offenders released under the prison’s reform policy were sent back

to prisons after re-offending (Criminal Justice Legal Foundation & Otis, 2016). This is a clear indication that the move relieves the correction facilities a lot of pressure. Apart from saving public funds, the strategy has also reduced violence, drug abuse and sexual harassment in correction facilities. As highlighted above, the prison reform aimed to reduce the number of offenders housed in the facilities. Lowering the number of offenders created enough space in prisons which effectively lowers stress and depression among offenders (Verma, 2016). By doing this, it reduced instances of sexual harassment, violence due to overheating and suicide following depression and stress in the centers.

Additionally, the reform encouraged implementation of programs aimed at helping prisoners to transition smoothly into the outer world. For example, following implementation of the prison reforms, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has initiated programs such as daily treatment that are aimed at managing offenders according to the guidelines offers by the county justice systems (In Kubrin, In Seron, & American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2016). The programs ensure that offenders receive drug treatment, mental health services, and probation while still interacting with their families and members of the society. By doing this, the California Corrections facilities under the able criminal and juvenile justice systems have managed to reduce recidivism.

Finally, other than lowering costs, lowering crimes and reducing overcrowding in prisons, the reforms have also impacted positively on community institutions such as hospitals. In most cases, individuals caught with non-serious or non-violent crimes such as drunk driving are under the influence of drugs. Therefore, the reform has promoted the growth of hospitals and medical facilities that are tasked

with treating and helping drug addicts in recovering their normal state (Verma, 2016). Basically, adoption of the reform moved a long way in improving the life of offenders as well as community members.

Summary and Recommendations

From the exploration, the prison’s reform was initially seen as an expensive strategy to implement in California due to the assumption of cost and budgetary strains in the country. Most people thought that the reform would be very costly to the society in terms of crime increase and pressure on taxpayers (Criminal Justice Legal Foundation & Otis, 2016). But after implementation in 2011, the strategy has proved to be fruitful to the Country as a whole. For example, the release of 30,000 offenders in the year 2011 relieved the correction facilities from overcrowding, violence and budgetary strains (Verma, 2016). This made its simple for the facility to improve living conditions of serial criminals housed in prison and juvenile centers for longer years. Furthermore, it has indirectly worked in reducing drug abuse among young and teen offenders because the strategy came along with adopting alternatives of assisting and rehabilitating individuals in the community.

Recommendation

To achieve its effectiveness, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation should work closely with community policing, a social institution such as churches and schools to enable changed behavior in the community. Regardless of the fact that the move has managed to lower violent and property crimes in the society, auto theft has increased by about 10%. Therefore, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation must collaborate with society members to lower these criminal activities (Criminal Justice Legal Foundation & Otis, 2016).

Bearing in mind that the reform enabled easy transfer

of correction responsibilities from state prisons to county prisons, the national government must fund the activities of probation officers and health facilities in these counties in order to ensure easy rehabilitation of the released offenders. By doing this, the system will ensure that released offenders do not re-engage themselves with criminal activities.

Lastly, the criminal justice system through the California Correction facilities must invest more in evidence-based rehabilitation, empowerment and treatment programs. These programs would alleviate a good number of individual from criminal activities and save a lot on the money used in prison facilities. For example, treatment programs would help solve mental illness that increases chances of suicide in freshly released offenders. Rehabilitation offers therapy to ensure that an offender does not re-engage in such criminal activities (In Kubrin, In Seron, & American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2016). Therefore, the system must aim to bring positive change on offenders before they are successfully re-integrated into the society.

References

• In Kubrin, C. E., In Seron, C., & American Academy of Political and Social Science. (2016). The great experiment: Realigning criminal justice in California and beyond. Los Angeles: Sage
• Verma, Anjuli Catherine. (2016). The Great Experiment: California's Prison Realignment and the Legal Reform of Mass Incarceration. EScholarship, University of California
• Prison Policy Initiative, (March 31, 2016). How Has Proposition 47 Affected California's Jail Population? Journal of Prison Policy Initiative, 2016-3
• Petersilia, J., & Greenlick, S. J. (January 01, 2013). Looking Past the Hype: 10 Questions Everyone Should Ask About California's Prison Realignment. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 5, 2
• Sutton, J. R. (March 01, 2013). Symbol and Substance: Effects of California's Three Strikes Law on
  

Felony Sentencing. Law & Society Review, 47, 1, 37-72.