M7A1 Case Study 3:
California Prison System

AB 109 and AB 117 were introduced to ease the pressure of the federal and state budget through saving costs on the penitentiary system. In this regard, the reduction of the prison population and the transfer of a part of the prison population to county jails was one of the main provisions of AB 109 but AB 117 actually discharges provisions of AB 109. Such a paradoxical situation is the result of scarce financial resources to fund the penitentiary system at both the federal and local level. In order to reduce the pressure on the penitentiary system at the federal level, the decision to transfer the prison population to county jails or to release the …show more content…

In such a context, the reform of the criminal justice system is essential because the contemporary criminal justice system fails to perform its main function, the prevention of crimes. Today, the prison population keeps growing, the public demands more severe punishment for adult and juvenile offenders, while the penitentiary system just cannot afford the ongoing growth of the prison population.
In such a situation, the policy makers and criminal justice system should look for alternative solutions. In this regard, it is possible to recommend using abundantly parole and probation along with the wider involvement of the community into the correctional programs. For instance, offenders may stay within communities under the supervision of law enforcement agents but they have to perform certain jobs within the community, such as volunteer jobs. In such a way, offenders will remain under the supervision of law enforcement agents and community members, on the one hand, and they will integrate into the community life doing useful jobs that are beneficial for the community, on the other.

References:
California Corrections Chief Matthew Cate on Supreme Court's Prison Overcrowding Order. YouTube website. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zs8e90Jt1g
California Prison Plan.