PROPOSITION 57

Proposition 57 was recently passed in California. Proposition 57 increased the chances for felons who were convicted of nonviolent crimes to get paroled. It also allows those felons to have more opportunities to earn credits for good behavior. Furthermore, it allowed judges and not prosecutors to be able to determine when certain juveniles can be charged as adults in court. This proposition is expected to immediately affect about 25,000 nonviolent state felons who are currently incarcerated. Before being released, these felons would have to prove that they are not a danger to the public and have to pass a parole board hearing and they are subject to supervision by parole officers once they are released.

Who could benefit from this Proposition 57?

For starters, nonviolent felons in the state of California benefit from this proposition because they are now more likely to be able to get paroled. Once they have served their full sentences of their primary offense and have passed a screening to see whether they are threats to the public, they can be paroled. These felons can now get credits for good behavior while they are incarcerated. These credits can be used to reduce the time they have to spend in prison. The argument is that inmates will be motivated to behave better in order to be able to get out of prison early on good behavior.
There is also some evidence that inmates who are rehabilitated are less likely to re-offend and therefore they are less likely to be back in prison once they are released. This would mean that the overcrowding that many state prisons are currently experiencing could be alleviated in part as a result of this proposition—benefitting taxpayers statewide.

Summing up all the arguments, both for and against Proposition 57; there are many possible and probable consequences of its passage. We will just have to wait and see what happens in the future.