In 2014, when California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 47, the groundbreaking ballot measure that reduced low-level offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and required reallocation of the prisons budget savings to prevention and treatment, a new group of crime survivors played a leading role in advocating for the measure. That same group actively supported the passage of 2016’s successful Proposition 57, which expanded earned credit for rehabilitation to people in prison.
While it may seem counterintuitive that a group of crime victims would be the leading voices calling for less incarceration, not more, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice has only continued to grow since 2014. This year, the group was at the forefront of efforts to defeat Proposition 20, a failed attempt to repeal prior reforms and drive incarceration back up, this past election.
The new voices of survivors of violent and serious crime saying “not in our name” to decades of over-incarceration and instead calling for prevention, treatment and recovery, should mark a powerful and pivotal shift in the state and nation’s public safety policy. The supposed needs of crime victims, after all, was what propelled much of mass incarceration for the past four decades. When we say no more, it should become the long-overdue nail in the coffin for excessive imprisonment as the default response to calls for increased safety.
In reality, the experiences and needs of most crime survivors have been overlooked and underrepresented in debates about criminal justice policy. As our group of diverse survivors has grown, it has only become clearer that traditional conceptions of crime victims wanting over-incarceration do not reflect our experiences or knowledge of what can keep us safe.
What we want more than anything else are policies that prevent crime, stem violence and keep our communities safe. We want to prevent more people from joining our unenviable ranks.
It is our communities, most impacted by crime and violence but least helped, that are hurt by every dollar wasted on ineffective over-incarceration. We know that investments in real safety solutions for communities are needed — from crisis-response support centers, to mental health treatment, violence prevention, trauma recovery and rehabilitation, as well as stable housing, education and employment.
That was our message in 2014, which we remain committed to six years later. Voters have demonstrated their continued agreement with our vision, as increased approval of criminal justice reform was shown by the widespread defeat of Proposition 20.
Despite Proposition 20 being backed by powerful, monied law-enforcement associations and special interests, 51 of California’s 58 counties opposed the statewide ballot initiative, with nearly two out of every three voters rejecting the measure.
The Proposition 20 campaign utilized the tired playbook of trying to stoke fear about violent crime by tying it to criminal justice reforms, arguing for more felonies, more incarceration and more prison spending. Voters resoundingly rejected this fear-mongering at margins greater than ever before.
This fear-based argument has worked for decades and has largely been responsible for California’s history of incarcerating more people than any other state in the nation. But the voices of survivors have dramatically shifted the landscape — we now know more than ever that the solutions to violence and crime won’t be found in a bloated prisons budget.
Survivor leaders, like LaNaisha Edwards in Los Angeles, who lost two brothers to violence, have made clear what is at stake.
Another clear example of historic importance during this election was the opposition to Proposition 20 that emerged from the sisters of Polly Klaas, whose horrific and devastating 1993 murder set off the wave of harsh criminal justice policies in California.
We are not alone — these sentiments represent the values and opinions of the vast majority of people that have been victims. In 2019, in a statewide representative survey of crime victims, we found that more than three-quarters of victims favor reducing sentences and spending less on prisons and using the savings for treatment, prevention and trauma recovery services.
No one knows this better than survivors like me. I grew up in neighborhoods most affected by crime that never receive the resources we so desperately need to be safe and thrive, and suffered the loss of two of my brothers to homicide.
There is much work still to be done, but the survivor-led defeat of Proposition 20 is an important marker. An important lesson of this victory is that by listening to diverse survivor voices, we can ensure every community in our state is healthy and safe, and has its greatest challenges addressed. Crime survivors are charting the path to help us achieve the safety we all deserve and desire. California must continue forward with survivors leading the way.
Tinisch Hollins is the California state director for Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, the largest network of survivors of crime in California and the nation.
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November 25, 2020 at 07:00PM
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How crime survivors are boosting the movement for less incarceration - San Francisco Chronicle
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