By Victoria Johnson
At the request of the people of California, WeThePeople.org is making a difference in public safety by helping to reduce the drivers of crime: drug addiction, trauma, poverty and mental illness. Second, addressing the mass incarceration epidemic within the state.
WeThePeople.org filed an initiative, The People’s Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act of 2018, with the Office of the Attorney General, on Nov. 13. This initiative will be the next monumental step in dismantling the Three Strikes Law.
In 2012, a total of 69% of voters in California voted yes to Proposition 36. Prop 36 was the first step in undoing the Three Strikes Law. The data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) indicate that the recidivism rate of inmates released under Prop 36 has been only 1.3%.
Now, five years later, WeThePeople.org is taking the next step in dismantling the Three Strikes Law. This initiative will save millions of dollars in taxpayers’ money that is being wasted each year housing nonviolent three-strikers who are still incarcerated despite the establishment of Prop 36. These inmates are rehabilitated men and women who are wasting away in prison with life sentences.
WeThePeople.org is changing the narrative of such inmates with this initiative. The People’s Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act of 2018 would provide mandatory relief for nonviolent three-strikers by allowing them to file a Recall of Sentence Petition, and within 180 days of filing, being resentenced as second strikers.
Of the nation’s 50 states, California is No. 1 in prison spending and No. 48 in education spending. The CDCR presently spends more than $75,000 per year on each inmate—a figure that is higher than the cost of sending a student to Harvard University for a year. The money saved by The People’s Fair Sentencing & Public Safety Act of 2018 will be funneled into education, youth crime prevention and rehabilitation. This, in return, will reduce the drivers of crime.
For more information, to donate and/or to get involved, visit www.wethepeopleorg.com/initiative or contact WeThePeopleOrg.com directly at 888-245-9393. Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Victoria Johnson is the director for WeThePeopleOrg.com, as well as the founder of Advocates Delivering Love with experience in social justice, mass incarceration and the inhumane conditions of California jails/prison. Before her advocacy work, Victoria spent 16 years as a paralegal/legal assistant. Victoria has great passion and offers much knowledge regarding social injustices, oppression and industrialized slavery (incarceration). She is presently specializing in bring families back together by moving for prison sentencing reform with The People’s Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act of 2018 initiative. Contact her at victoria_johnson@wethepeopleorg.com.
