FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2024

Contact:
Faith Holland
Rise Strategy Group
310.492.3441
faith@risestrategygroup.com

Following California’s vote to approve Proposition 36, a statewide ballot proposition that will impose harsher sentences on low-level offenses and strip funding from treatment, housing, and services, Michelle Parris, director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Vera California initiative, said:

“Proposition 36 passed as a result of relentless scare tactics by corporate and right-wing special interests to exploit Californians’ fears about crime and mislead them about what this proposition does. Proponents of Prop 36 spent $16 million peddling falsehoods about the measure, such as claiming it would expand 'mass treatment,' when, in fact, it will strip $100 million a year from existing programs and services. By increasing penalties for low-level offenses, Prop 36 will only fuel the revolving door of arrest, jail, and prison and exacerbate the homelessness and overdose crises.

“California voters deserve better. When people are meaningfully informed about the choice between preventative services and more incarceration, they choose to proactively prevent crime in the first place through investments in community-based treatment and programs instead of reactive measures. Californians want to see real safety, accountability, and justice—not more of the failed “tough-on-crime” policies of the past. Yet most mainstream media outlets and politicians repeated the false claims about Prop 36 and ignored the evidence on what truly works to address crime, homelessness, and the drug crisis. The relentless and one-sided coverage of the issue had an impact—Californians voted for a false promise.

“While we are disappointed that Prop 36 passed, we are fiercely proud of the campaign that we and many others, including faith leaders, formerly incarcerated people, service providers, and crime survivors, took part in. The path forward will include fighting to protect existing community-based solutions and secure more funding for treatment, diversion, and reentry services; collecting data to track the impact of Prop 36, especially on low-income communities and Black and Latinx Californians who disproportionately bear the brunt of such policies; and educating California’s elected leaders and the media that they owe voters more than empty “tough-on-crime” rhetoric and failed policies.

“We will keep working to make California a safe, strong, and thriving place for all of us to call home.”

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About the Vera Institute of Justice: The Vera Institute of Justice is powered by hundreds of advocates, researchers, and policy experts working to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems until they’re fair for all. Founded in 1961 to advocate for alternatives to money bail in New York City, Vera is now a national organization that partners with impacted communities and government leaders for change. We develop just, antiracist solutions so that money doesn’t determine freedom; fewer people are in jails, prisons, and immigration detention; and everyone is treated with dignity. Vera’s headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York, with offices in Washington, DC, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. For more information, visit vera.org.