Over the first seven months of 2020, Prop 57 has reduced the prison population by an average of 648 per month.
California Proposition 57’s Real Impact on Criminal Justice Reform
The average monthly prison population impact of Proposition 57 during the first seven months of 2020 is 751 from both credit-earning and new parole considerations (648+96+7=751).
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) continues to struggle to meet its targets estimated under Prop 57.
In a recently released JULY 2020 UPDATE TO THE THREE-JUDGE COURT the CDCR claimed “As of July 8, 2020, the State’s prison population is 123.1% of design capacity.” July 2020 Update
On November 8, 2016, California voters passed Proposition 57 — The Public Safety and
Rehabilitation Act of 2016. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC):
Proposition 57 will significantly reduce the number of prison inmates — and, in combination with other statewide criminal justice reforms over the past six years, it will enable the system to keep its inmate population below the court-ordered cap of 137.5% of design capacity. Overall, Proposition 57 is expected to reduce the population by more than 2,600 inmates in 2017‒18, with a net cost savings of nearly $40 million. Long-term estimates put the population impact at 11,500 by 2020–21, for an annual savings of more than $180 million [$15,650 per individual].
Thanks to the Prison Law Office securing the Monthly Reports for 2020, the impact Proposition 57 has on reducing California’s prison population is as follows:
July 2020: 1,432 inmates @ 154 days = 603 (prison years)
June 2020: 868 inmates @ 152 days = 361
May 2020: 2,417 inmates @ 140 days = 927
April 2020: 1,734 inmates @ 137 days = 650
March 2020: 1585 inmates @ 140 days = 608
Feb. 2020: 1719 inmates @ 141 days = 664
Jan. 2020: 1872 inmates @ 141 days = 723
Over the first seven months of 2020, Prop 57 has reduced the prison population by an average of 648 per month. The CDCR had estimated it would have a monthly reduction of the population of 958 (i.e., 11,500 in 2020–21).
Accordingly, the CDCR has only accomplished 67 percent of its stated target reductions under Prop 57.
As to the much-vaunted nonviolent offender parole process, from July 1, 2017, to May 31, 2020 (35 months), 19,542 referrals for determinately sentenced individuals were made to the board with 3,367 approved. This is an average of 96 per month as of June 2020 Report.
For indeterminately sentenced individuals (aka 3-strikers), the CDCR began considering this group in January 2019. As of May 31, 2020,1,893 referrals for indeterminately sentenced individuals were made to the board with 111 approved. This is an average of 6.5 per month (111/17) as of June 2020 Report.
Free of the twin distractions of mobility and community, I spent my time pondering deep concepts — one was survival on the Main Line in an infamously famous and brutal prison, San Quentin.
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