Prop. 20 Will Take California Backwards

As I reflect on the meaning of Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday centered around forgiveness and reconciliation, I become deeply concerned about Proposition 20, an initiative on California’s November ballot that seems to contradict these principles.

Prop. 20 makes petty theft — something as minor as stealing a bicycle — into a potential felony, instead of strictly a misdemeanor, as it is today. Someone who steals as little as $250 worth of valuables — one of the lowest monetary thresholds in the nation — could be charged with a felony and face years behind bars. Even after an individual is released, having a felony on their record will make it extremely difficult to access employment, housing, education, or even food stamps. This would devastate families and communities, especially communities of Color. Ultimately, Prop. 20 would push parolees back into the prison system. Since they would lack the essential resources to succeed, parolees would have very few options but to steal to survive.

Prop. 20 is a dangerous initiative. According to a recent report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, Prop. 20 would “generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new annual spending on law enforcement and incarceration,” consequently forcing cuts to other essential social programs and community-based services. It would also contribute to gross overcrowding in California jails and prisons.

Voting “NO” on Prop. 20 is not only a human, moral imperative, but also a Jewish one

Prop. 20’s proponents say that criminal justice reforms aimed at decreasing incarceration rates could endanger Californians. In reality, violent crime rates have dropped steadily since peaking in the 1990s in California, despite (or because of) criminal justice reforms. Even former Gov. Jerry Brown called Prop. 20 “the latest scare tactic on criminal justice reform.”

This initiative also effectively erases the gains made by the criminal justice reform laws AB 109, Prop. 47, and Prop. 57, which were passed between 2011–2016 and intended to decrease prison populations in California by incentivizing early release for good behavior and reclassifying low-level, non-violent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. By incarcerating fewer people, these initiatives have saved the state and local governments hundreds of millions of dollars — money that has been used instead to support local community corrections, juvenile justice programs, courts, and mental health services.

If it passes, Prop. 20 will disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities. As has become abundantly clear in the last few months, systemic racism plagues our criminal justice system. Witness, for instance, the death of George Floyd. Or take a look at the demographics of incarcerated Californians: According to a 2017 California Department of Corrections report, African American men are incarcerated at 10 times the rate of white men, and Latino men are incarcerated at twice the rate of white men. Black women are incarcerated at five times the rate of white women. These discrepancies are not due to lower crime rates among white people. Rather, they are a direct consequence of racial bias in our legal system, determining who goes behind bars and who goes free. A 2018 study by Harvard Law, for instance, revealed that judges’ political affiliations contributed to racial inequities in sentencing.

Simply put, California cannot afford the consequences of Prop. 20. Prisons and detention centers are already overwhelmed by overcrowding. Inmates at Solano State Prison, for instance, have been forced to sleep in the prison yard. AB 209, Prop. 47, and Prop. 57 were passed to address this overcrowding problem, which was so severe 10 years ago that the Supreme Court ruled that it violated the Eighth Amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Living in a pandemic, we must not forget that overcrowding often leads to the spread of disease. COVID-19 has become so rampant in California prisons, that over 1,400 people have become infected, and 60 people have died. Inmates are not receiving adequate PPE, sanitary living conditions, space to socially distance, adequate medical care, or even access to contact loved ones. California is failing to keep safe those who are locked up in the name of preserving public safety (and prison staff are endangered, as well).

Prop. 20 would worsen the inhumane, racially skewed, overcrowded and unhealthy conditions in California’s jails and prisons. What we need to do, instead, is put fewer people in jail and set them up for success once they are released. Let’s invest in our communities, not in building more jails. Let’s focus on providing jobs with livable wages, affordable housing, education, and mental health care. Given the High Holidays and the motivation to forgive and repent, voting “NO” on Prop. 20 is not only a human, moral imperative, but also a Jewish one.

Alison Sloan is a nurse practitioner and member of Bend the Arc in the Bay Area.