Sacramento, CA – At the request of the people of California, We the People Org is making a difference in public safety by helping to reduce the drivers of crime: drug addiction, trauma, poverty, and mental illness. Secondly, addressing the mass incarceration epidemic within the state.
We the People Org filed the initiative, “The People’s Fair Sentencing & Public Safety Act of 2018”, with the Office of the Attorney General, on November 13, 2017. This initiative will be the next monumental step in dismantling the Three Strikes Law.
In 2012, a total of 69% of voters in California voted YES to Proposition 36. Proposition 36 was the first step in undoing the Three Strikes Law. The data from the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) indicates that the recidivism rate of inmates released under Proposition 36 has been only 1.3%. Now, 5 years later, We the People Org is taking the next step in dismantling the Three Strikes Law. This initiative will save millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money that is being wasted each year housing nonviolent 3-strikers that are still incarcerated despite the establishment of Proposition 36. These inmates are rehabilitated men and women who are wasting away in prison with life sentences. We the People Org is changing the narrative of these inmates with this initiative. The People’s Fair Sentencing & Public Safety Act of 2018 would provide mandatory relief for non-violent 3-strikers by allowing them to file a Recall of Sentence Petition, and within 180 days of filing, being resentenced as second strikers.
Of the nation’s 50 states, California is #1 in prison spending and #48 in education spending. CDCR presently spends over $75,000 per year on each inmate – a figure that is higher than the cost of sending a student to Harvard University for a year. The money saved by The People’s Fair Sentencing & Public Safety Act of 2018 will be funneled into education, youth crime prevention, and rehabilitation. This, in return, will reduce the drivers of crime.
