The Little Hoover Commission is reviewing opportunities for sentencing reform in California within the broader context of the State's correctional policies.  Previous work by the Commission on the State's prison and correctional policies provide the Commission with expertise and context for the analysis of sentencing policies; those studies are listed below.  As part of this study, the Commission will assess the role of sentencing reform as an element of overall correctional system reform including parole and prison reforms, and how important a "holisitic" approach is to improvement.  The review includes an evaluation of the laws and processes that send an offender to prison, determine length of incarceration and determine the length and nature of parole.  Also as part of this study, the Commission will assess correctional reform efforts since the July 2005 reorganization of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and review ways to improve the management of the department.  The goal of the Commission's study is to improve public safety and reduce the escalating costs of the State's prison system.

If you would like more information regarding this study, please contact the project manager, Carole D'Elia.  If you would like to be notified electronically of meetings and events associated with this study and be notified when the report is complete, please send a request to littlehoover@lhc.ca.gov.

Previous Studies

Governor’s Plan to Reorganize the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency (2005).  In January 2005, the Commission reviewed Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan to reorganize the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency into the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.  This reorganization, which the Commission supported, placed a renewed emphasis on rehabilitation for inmates and parolees.

Back to the Community: Safe and Sound Parole Policies (2003). The Commission found that the State’s parole policies resulted in far too many parolees returning to overcrowded prison facilities for technical violations.  The Commission found that the State failed to use prison time to adequately prepare offenders for release, that the State’s parole policies threatened public safety and undermined successful reintegration, and that the State too frequently used parole revocation for serious crimes that should have been charged as new crimes.  The Commission proposed expanding evidence-based rehabilitative programs for inmates and parolees and recommended policy-makers review the sentencing laws that place every offender on parole following incarceration.

Beyond Bars:  Correctional Reforms to Lower Prison Costs and Reduce Crime (1998).  The Commission found that state and local correctional systems were not integrated and that the State’s response to offenders needed to include a more robust arsenal of responses to crime, including an expansion of local sanctions and community correctional facilities for low-level offenders to maximize existing prison facilities for violent and dangerous offenders.  The Commission also recommended expanding programs for inmates and parolees, developing separate facilities for parolees returned to custody who are most likely to re-offend and re-evaluating the organizational structure of parole.

Putting Violence Behind Bars:  Redefining the Role of California’s Prisons (1994). The Commission found that the State’s sentencing system was unduly complicated and inequitable to both victims and offenders and there was little distinction between the way violent and non-violent criminals were handled.  The Commission recommended that the State create a sentencing commission to develop a sentencing structure that protects public safety, tailors the punishment to fit the crime, addresses the needs of victims, fosters responsibility in inmates and balances costs with benefits.