San Jose Inside
October 19, 2008

Proposition 5 could help relieve overcrowding in California’s prisons. Prop 6 would make things worse.

Prop 5: Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation

Proposition 5 would provide much-needed reforms to the state’s criminal justice and drug rehabilitation systems. An expansion of Prop 36, the 2000 initiative that established a drug treatment diversion program for nonviolent drug offenders, Prop. 5 would funnel more money into that program. It would also refine sentencing and parole guidelines.

Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money on incarceration and excessive parole sentencing, Prop. 5 establishes a three-track system that takes into account offenders’ criminal, substance abuse and treatment histories. The initiative also drops possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction (like a speeding ticket) and directs the $100 fine from the infraction to fund drug treatment programs for juvenile substance abusers.

Additional reforms include expanded treatment for juvenile drug offenders and oversight committees to track the effectiveness of the programs.
Due to savings from decreased incarceration and parole costs, plus the money saved from decreasing the need to build more prisons, the net cost of the $460 million-per-year-program would be neutral.

The cycles of substance abuse and criminal recidivism can only be broken through realistic, comprehensive drug treatment programs that emphasize rehabilitation and make incarceration the very last resort. Prop. 5 is a vital piece of the vast reform needed in our state’s broken criminal justice system.