REALIGNMENT: BOON OR BANE? – Listen to the full program! – Forced by federal courts to reduce prison overcrowding, California moved a large number of non-violent and non-sexual offenders to county jails. Republicans are now seizing on the “realignment” law, arguing that it is to blame for an increase in crime in many cities. Some criminal justice groups disagree, pointing to a drop in violent crime in counties with the most transferred inmates. Meanwhile, federal courts urge Gov. Brown to remove another 9,000 prisoners from state prisons by year’s end while Republicans push Brown to stop early release of state prisoners.
Guests: Raoul Lowery Contreras, Political commentator and columnist, San Diego, CA; José Luis Gómez, Case manager, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, San Francisco, CA, www.cjcj.org .