Abstract
California is currently implementing a prison downsizing experiment of historical significance, and as such provides a critical test case for prison downsizing in America. The California Public Safety Realignment Law (Assembly Bill [AB] 109) shifts responsibility from the state to the counties for tens of thousands of offenders. If it works, California — the nation’s largest state and home to nearly one out of every ten U.S. prisoners — will have shown the nation how to downsize prisons safely by transferring lower-level offenders from state prisons to county systems. If it does not work, counties will be overwhelmed with diverted inmates, unable to operate needed programs, which ultimately results in continued criminality and jail (instead of prison) crowding. In a very real sense, California’s Realignment experiment is giving the rest of the nation a close look at “the day after” significant decarceration.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
