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…
Counties across the state are facing unprecedented new challenges in their adult and juvenile criminal justice systems. Pressures are increasing on local systems due to adult corrections realignment under Assembly Bill 109 and unprecedented drops in federal funding for rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. California counties are responding to these challenges with a wide variety of responses. While county responses vary, one factor remains constant throughout the state: The…
The Red Rose Culinary Academy is an innovative program from Brothers for Change, Inc . Led by head chef Henry Howard, the program is designed to enable formerly incarcerated individuals to engage in vocational and academic training in the food industry, which will eventually lead to sustainable employment. The 16-week culinary arts course prepares students with the skills necessary to enter the food industry workforce upon graduation. Curriculum modules include a strong foundation in the…
Last Thursday, Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cárdenas traveled to San Francisco to meet leading juvenile justice policy experts from Northern California at the San Francisco State University Downtown Campus . Councilman Cárdenas is running unopposed this November in a new Congressional district in Los Angeles and will be sworn into office in January 2013 as one of California’s newest members of Congress. Mr. Cárdenas was very explicit with the policy advocates that his number one issue…