California took new steps toward criminal justice reform this week when voters statewide and in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco approved measures to address racial and economic disparities in our systems of crime and punishment. It wasn’t a clean sweep – voters overturned a law approved by the Legislature that would have ended cash bail in the state. But Zocalo commentator Joe Mathews says that, overall, California continues to move away from its past as a place with a lock-‘em-up mentality and harsh policies like “Three Strikes”.
Joe Mathews: State of reform
California took new steps toward criminal justice reform this week when voters statewide and in cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco approved measures to address racial and economic disparities in our systems of crime and punishment. Photo by California Department of Corrections