In This Series:
Graphic: One Year Later
There has already been a 39 percent reduction in new state prison admissions. Where are these prisoners going? What happens once they get there?
Realignment Explained
Assembly Bill 109 had the objective of shedding more than 30,000 inmates from in-state prisons and significantly cutting the prison budget.
More from the Lowdown
Video
Watch special documentaries and panel discussions with top experts on how California has wrangled with prison reform over the years.
The California Report | Mar 28, 2013
State Awaits Ruling on Prison Mental Health Care
Governor Jerry Brown's administration is keen to end federal oversight of the state's prisons, but that entails convincing federal judges it's time to let go. In the case involving more than 32,000 inmates with mental health issues, however, that's looking less likely to happen soon.
The Lowdown | Aug 31, 2012
Who Do We Lock Up? Four Key Characteristics of Cal’s Prison Population
Who’s actually behind bars in California? Here are four key characteristics of California’s prison population: Geography The majority of inmates come from the southern part of the state. A whopping 50,000 – or 34 percent of all prisoners – come from Los Angeles County alone. But the highest incarceration rates are concentrated in poorer counties … Continue reading
News Fix | Aug 23, 2012
Video: George Gascon, Steve Cooley Back Nov. Ballot Initiative Softening 3-Strikes Law
A tale of two DA's: George Gascon, Steve Cooley. One is a San Francisco Democrat, the other an LA Republican. Cooley lost the 2010 California Attorney General race to Kamala Harris, whom Gascon then replaced as San Francisco's District Attorney. … Continue reading
The Lowdown | Aug 17, 2012
Realignment Explained (including the difference between prison and jail)
Last October California began a dramatic overhaul of its severely overcrowded prison system. Assembly Bill 109 – known as realignment – had the objective of shedding more than 30,000 inmates from in-state prisons and significantly cutting the prison budget. At the time the law took effect, there were more than 143,000 inmates behind bars in … Continue reading
The Lowdown | Aug 16, 2012
Is California’s Prison Realignment Experiment Working?
Depends whom you ask (real helpful, huh?). On the one hand, the state has significantly reduced its prison population since realignment went into effect last October. At the end of September 2011, there were 144,456 inmates in the state’s 33 prisons, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (Note: that does not represent … Continue reading
Under pressure from the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce prison overcrowding and improve inmate healthcare, California Governor Jerry Brown started transferring authority for nearly 40,000 low-level convicts from state prisons to city and county systems. KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting examined the impact of these unprecedented and far reaching efforts to overhaul California's prison system.
Prison Break joins a long list of collaborations between KQED, CIR and CIR's California Watch and The Bay Citizen.
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