Panel
Social Justice, Incarceration and Reentry: New Directions for a Better Way
Milken InstituteMike Romano, Scott Budnick, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Jackie Lacey, Van Jones, Prophet Walker
- Predicts a continuing dramatic and historic drop in violent crime rates across California and the nation, with specific expectations to reduce recidivism to around 20% or lower through residential treatment for drug-addicted and mentally ill individuals.
- Plans to implement alternatives to incarceration including a "pay-for-success" model, a "college campus behind bars," and "college dorms for the formerly incarcerated" to support reintegration and shift financial incentives from the incarceration industry to de-incarceration.
- Aims to launch a six-year study targeting a reduction in recidivism from 74% to 50% using a control group and pay-for-success financing, alongside a "yes we code" campaign to train 100,000 low-opportunity young people.
- Anticipates a $100 million project to revolutionize the juvenile system, shifting spending from $200,000 annually with 74% recidivism to significantly lower rates by aligning private business and nonprofit interests.
- Seeks to introduce legislation in Sacramento for a classification system ensuring immediate access to education or vocational programs for first-time offenders aged 18, with support from District Attorney deputies.
- Expects a bipartisan consensus driven by libertarian concerns over excessive government power and religious conservative beliefs in redemption, potentially creating a three-part coalition to address the prison system.
- Proposes a financial incentive model where wardens receive a 20% share of savings if inmates remain out of prison for three years, aligning fiscal stakes with successful rehabilitation.
- Notes current structural challenges including mandatory sentencing tying judges' hands, private prisons potentially creating "cushier environments" for those who can pay, and sheriffs using jails as de facto homeless shelters for the mentally ill.
- Highlights that active law enforcement must engage youth who have "given up hope" directly in activities like ride-alongs to demonstrate options, moving beyond simple job provision.
- Warns that without addressing the structural mismatch between resources and needs, and treating drug users differently based on race and class, high concentrations of users in the general population compared to jail populations will persist.
- Observes that public opinion on criminal justice reform is ahead of expert assessments, evidenced by the 70% statewide vote for Proposition 36 driven by concerns over unfair sentences.
- Predicts that the current prison system will increasingly be viewed as an extension of slavery and a "weapon of mass destruction" that destroys bodies, spirits, and dreams if the programmed environment remains unchanged.
- Plans to expand the Anti-Recidivism Coalition pathway program currently supporting 6,000 inmates in California prisons through partnerships with the District Attorney's office.
- Forecasts that governors in red states may face a choice between raising taxes for prisons or closing them to reduce taxes, with some already moving in the direction of reform.
- Indicates that laws originally reactions to voter fear regarding sentencing may need to be looked at again and revised, while private industry incentives are viewed with skepticism when applied directly to government operations.