The Real Reason For Sentencing Reform

A local news story this morning almost escaped my gimlet eye. Local NPR affiliate KPBS ran a story noting that it was the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

In the lede, KPBS noted that California "marked the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act as election officials reversed a policy Tuesday, restoring voting rights to nearly 60,000 people convicted of felonies."

San Diego Assemblywoman Shirley Weber was interviewed alongside Lori Shellenberger, voting rights director for the American Civil Liberties Union in California. It wasn't just kismet that brought the two women together, because their goals are synchronized.

They convince voters that prisons are overcrowded and barbarous, and that many prisoners are being unfairly punished for relatively minor, "non-violent" crimes.

It worked like a charm in California, where voters passed Prop 47, the "Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute," by a margin of 60%-40%. Before Prop 47, there was California's Prison Realignment Plan, known as AB 109.

AB 109 forced the relocation of state prison inmates to local jails, which lack the facilities to handle prisoners sentenced to long terms. The result is more prisoners receiving early release, and lesser supervision of parolees, known as Post Release Community Supervision. So many state inmates at county lockups also reduces the resources for local law enforcement, leading to catch-and-release.

Prop 47 has reclassified certain felonies as misdemeanors. For example, possession of GHB used to be a felony; now it is a misdemeanor. This affects new sentencing, and, existing prisoners can also be re-sentenced and even released. And Prop 47 is retroactive, meaning people who have already served their sentence can petition to downgrade a past felony conviction to a misdemeanor.

A Reuters article notes that since the majority of those incarcerated are African-American or Latino men, the whole issue of prison reform is cloaked in the argument of "civil rights in minority communities." It's the classic critical theory approach. Those in prison are the real victims.

Shellenberger commented that "California is sending a message that we're expanding and making our democracy more inclusive." She's right about the message part. But the message is that the ACLU is and has long been an arm of the Democratic Party, and just wants to create more Democratic voters, even among people in the country illegally. Maybe it won't make much of a difference in California national elections, because we're a one-party state. But it might make a difference in local elections. Voting rights for felons and illegal aliens: coming soon to a swing district near you!