Blog Aug 28, 2012
San Francisco leading the way to sentencing reform
In the face of historic opposition to a statewide sentencing commission, San Francisco County established a local sentencing commission January 2012 to address the county’s sentencing policies and practices. Twenty-two states across the U.S. have established sentencing commissions to assist in the development and administration of a fair justice system. Policy makers require strong data-analysis to inform the previous and future decisions centered on sentencing policies and practices. Data…
Governor Brown has an historic opportunity sitting on his desk. For the first time four years, legislation sponsored by Senator Leland Yee (San Francisco) to eliminate the practice known as Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) has passed both Senate and Assembly floor votes. The legislation, Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) has arrived on the Governor’s desk and is awaiting his signature. SB 9 would end the policy some have called “a living death sentence” whereby youth felons are sentenced to life in…
In California, local county jail bed space is not always for the guilty. Approximately 50,000 un-sentenced individuals are confined to the state’s county jails, awaiting their time before a judge. A majority of these individuals are confined to local jails because they are not able to post bail . This contributes to the 71% state average of un-sentenced individuals in county jails. These individuals have not necessarily been deemed a flight-risk or a danger to society; they just lack the…
Blog Aug 16, 2012
Media coverage focuses on sentencing disparities
Media outlets across the state are posing hard questions about county sentencing practices. CJCJ’s recently launched the California Sentencing Institute , an interactive map that highlights the disparities in sentencing across California’s 58 counties. The map allows researchers, legislators, and the general public to examine the cost to taxpayers for each county’s incarceration rate, as well as correlations to ethnicity and county poverty levels. A recent KQED News investigation using the…
Blog Aug 14, 2012
San Francisco data collection needs upgrade
An article in the Bay Citizen today sheds much needed light on the importance and lack of accurate data collection in San Francisco. In particular, the article notes the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) underreports the arrests of Latino and Asian residents (the city’s two largest minority groups) by misclassifying them at “white” or “other.” These inaccuracies have significant repercussions that effect not only law enforcement, but policymakers, and local residents. For example in…