[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

At its executive board meeting this past weekend in Millbrae, the California Democratic Party voted to take the following positions on ballot measures that have already qualified or will likely appear on the November 2008 statewide ballot.

Redistricting: OPPOSE
High-speed rail bond: SUPPORT
Treatment of farm animals: SUPPORT
Children’s hospital bond: SUPPORT
Parental notification for abortion: OPPOSE
Sentencing of nonviolent offenders: OPPOSE
Increased criminal penalties: OPPOSE
Renewable energy requirements (solar): OPPOSE
Same-sex marriage ban: OPPOSE
Criminal justice system, victims’ rights: NEUTRAL
Alternative fuels and renewable energy bond: NEUTRAL

by DFA Staff [courtesy of Blog for America]

One of my favorite authors is Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. In his book The Great Shark Hunt, Dr. Thompson writes about Gov. Jimmy Carter's "Law Day" address at the University of Georgia on May 4, 1974. It is a pretty remarkable address where Gov. Carter talks about the law, compassion, and some of his influences:

My own interest in the criminal justice system is very deep and heartfelt. Not having studied law, I've had to learn the hard way. I read a lot and listen a lot. One of the sources for my understanding about the proper application of criminal justice and the system of equity is from reading Reinhold Niebuhr, one of his books that Bill Gunter gave me quite a number of years ago. The other source of my understanding about what's right and wrong in this society is from a friend of mine, a poet named Bob Dylan. After listening to his records about "The Ballad of Hattie Carol" and "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Times, They Are a-Changing," I've learned to appreciate the dynamism of change in a modern society.

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[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Margaret Dooley-Sammuli
Drug Policy Alliance

We are thrilled to inform Californians that the Drug Policy Alliance Network has filed a ballot measure that would bring about the biggest prison/sentencing reform in American history.

The Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA) would provide $460 million each year to fund effective, individualized drug treatment and rehabilitation for tens of thousands of people arrested for nonviolent offenses. NORA also requires the prison system to make a major commitment to rehabilitation programs for people inside and outside the prisons. By stabilizing funding for, and expanding access to, treatment and rehabilitative services, NORA will dramatically reduce the prison population and save $1 billion annually, while allowing our criminal justice system to focus on public safety, not punishing nonviolent drug users. We believe that the changes proposed in the initiative could provide a model for reform nationally.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Who is accountable for this broken system, what are we doing to repair it, and is it really worth the price?

By Natasha Minsker

These are just some of the questions that the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice should be asking as it begins to examine California’s broken death penalty system. The Commission will hold the first of three hearings today, January 10. The same day, Gov. Schwarzenegger releases his plan to deal with state’s crippling $14 billion budget deficit. The Commission and the governor must come to terms with the spiraling costs we pay to maintain an unfair, unjust, and unnecessary death penalty system. The question is, what are they going to do about it?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Key bills and issues we’ve been following during the past week and beyond

By Hannah Beth Jackson

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By John F. Terzano
President
The Justice Project

Harold Hall was only 18 years old when he was sent to prison. He spent nearly two decades of his life in a California prison for crimes he did not commit.

Hall was wrongfully convicted of double murder in 1985 based in part on evidence provided by a jailhouse informant who fabricated a confession Hall allegedly made to him.

Jailhouse informant testimony is widely regarded as the least reliable form of testimony in the criminal justice system, but unfortunately in Mr. Hall's case and numerous others, uncorroborated testimony from unscrupulous jailhouse informants, or "snitches," is still used by prosecutors to obtain convictions.

According to a San Francisco Magazine study, unreliable testimony of informants was a factor in approximately 20% of all wrongful convictions in California. This problem extends nationwide as shown in a study by The Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, which identifies snitch testimony as the leading cause of wrongful convictions in U.S. capital cases.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As the Governor and Assembly Republicans fall over one another to prevent the courts from ending our absurd penchant for excessive imprisonment to prove we’re tough on crime -- costs and effectiveness be damned -- at least three State Senators want to provide a whiff of sanity to our criminal justice process. Explains Natasha Minsker, an attorney with the ACLU of Northern California:

"Convicting the guilty while protecting the innocent is the most fundamental goal of our criminal justice system. Yet, all too often, we fall short. …

DNA evidence has proven some of our mistakes, but it is not the magic bullet that will prevent these mistakes in the future. DNA evidence is available in less than 15% of cases. That’s why we need to fix the problems that send innocent people to prison.

Three bills currently in the California Legislature would help prevent the most common causes of wrongful conviction:

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