Capitol Weekly | October 11, 2022 | By Will Shuck

*This article uses language that Root & Rebound does not recommend using. Instead of using “former inmates,” Root & Rebound recommends using “formerly incarcerated people.”

A spate of smash-and-grab robberies and a rising crime rate may have dampened their hopes early on, but criminal justice reformers say the recently ended legislative session brought a raft of significant improvements to the way California treats people caught up in the system.

 “At the beginning of the year, there was a lot of ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric given the shoplifting crime sprees that happened over the holidays last year,” said Carmen Garcia, executive director of the advocacy and assistance organization Root & Rebound. “With that said, we are beyond thrilled that the governor signed all of our bills in the midst of this climate.”

 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed more than a dozen reform bills on a range of subjects from compassionate release for terminally ill inmates to a ban on using rap lyrics against their authors during criminal trials.

One bill changes election law so that district attorney and sheriff candidates appear on the ballot during presidential elections.

 “Signing these bills signals that formerly incarcerated people are humans and should not be judged on their mistakes from the past,” said Garcia.

 “So often we forget or want to overlook the humanity of people who are incarcerated or who have a criminal record,” she said. “But those people are exactly like you and me – essential parts of our entire community.”

 A law requires prisons to allow inmates free phone calls ends a much-loathed system that charged exorbitant fees. Another will make it easier for former inmates to seal their criminal records once they’ve completed their post-release supervision.

 Still another lets people accused of a drug crime to plead guilty to a charge of “public nuisance,” which, unlike a drug conviction, does not lead to deportation.

 Newsom also signed a bill expanding the Racial Justice Act, which allows death row inmates and others to challenge convictions obtained on the basis of “race, ethnicity or national origin;” as well as a bill that changes election law so that district attorney and sheriff candidates appear on the ballot during presidential elections, when turnout is typically at its highest.

 The broad range of laws demonstrates a growing appetite for change, according to advocates.

 Yet another reform requires district attorneys to collect and report demographic information on defendants and victims.

 The broad range of laws demonstrates a growing appetite for change, according to advocates.

 “The need for criminal justice reform is now widely accepted in California, and we see that reflected in the number of historic reforms passed this year,” said Anne Irwin, executive director of Smart Justice California.

 “This year,” Irwin said, “California continued making marked progress toward dismantling unnecessary and harmful barriers that far too many Californians and their families face as a result of arrest or incarceration.”

 A law dealing specifically with prisoners and their family or loved ones streamlines the state’s existing system for “compassionate release” of terminally ill inmates – a measure considered both humane and cost effective.

There was “groundbreaking legislation to help realize the promise of equal access to justice and fair treatment under the law.” — Anne Irwin

 The existing system releases only a fraction of inmates whose medical conditions qualify for the program. Between January 2015 and April 2021, for example, 306 people were referred for compassionate release, 95 of them died before the process could be completed, and many more were rejected by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Only 53 people were successfully released.

 “California’s current policy is too narrow, and the process is lengthy and redundant,” said the law’s author, Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco. “We can do better. Because these people are no longer a danger to society, we can now consider them for release safely and quickly.”

 Smart Justice’s Irwin said the 2021-2022 session brought “groundbreaking legislation to help realize the promise of equal access to justice and fair treatment under the law.”

 Several such laws deal with barriers to employment and housing that continue to punish people who have already served their sentences.

 “As a formerly incarcerated woman,” said Root & Rebound’s Garcia, “I know too well how your criminal record can feel like it defines you and the system can make you feel less than human.”

 “That’s what these bills fight against,” she said, “the dehumanization of our community.”