Our adversarial election process is one of the hallmarks of American democracy, and it is generally a good thing. However, election-driven rhetoric isn’t always the best way to transmit factual information about complex issues. For example, the next gubernatorial election in California is 19 months away and already the friction around public safety realignment is [...]
The state’s 2011 shift of criminal justice responsibility to counties under AB 109 has generated extensive commentary and analysis about how well it’s working. As it happens, “Smart Justice” is the theme for the National Association of Counties’ County Government Month, and counties are indeed working smarter to manage these new responsibilities. Many counties are [...]
A ground breaking study of who actually gets arrested in four California metropolitan areas has some surprising results. It’s us. Okay, maybe not you or me individually, but almost 80 percent of the people arrested in Sacramento, Redlands, Los Angeles and San Francisco over a three and a half year period were not on probation or parole at the time of their arrest.
The best solutions to complex issues often come from a solid application of the three Cs: communication, collaboration and cooperation. And that is exactly what was going on earlier this week in the CSAC Conference Center in Sacramento. About 40 county administrative officers from across the state came together to talk about allocation of AB 109 public safety realignment funding. The meeting was sponsored by County Administrative Officers Association of California (CAOAC) in cooperation with CSAC.
I was lucky enough to squeeze into room 1190 at the Capitol on Tuesday for Governor Brown’s press conference regarding prison conditions in California. It was a virtuoso performance by one of the preeminent figures in the last half century of California politics. The Governor, citing a significant reduction in the number of inmates and [...]