Through the hard work of Joanne Fields and many others, the San Diego Organizing Project and District E Trustee Cabinet presented the Invest in Schools Not Prisons Community Festival. In California it costs $62,300 per year to imprison someone, but just $9,100 per year to teach a child. A powerful short video from Californians for Safety and Justice challenges us to “do the math” when it comes to expanding the criminal justice system or investing in schools seen on the right of our website endorsing The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act
The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act of 2014 is a voter initiative for the November 2014 California ballot that will change sentencing for low-level nonviolent crimes such as simple drug possession and petty theft from felonies to misdemeanors and direct financial savings to K-12 schools, mental health treatment, and victim services. This reform maintains the current law for registered sex offenders and anyone with prior convictions for rape, murder or child molestation.
Details of the Act
- Stops wasting prison space on low-level nonviolent crimes: Changes the lowest level nonviolent drug possession and petty theft crimes from felonies to simple misdemeanors. It authorizes resentencing for anyone who is incarcerated for these offenses and poses no threat to public safety. These changes apply to juveniles as well as adults.
- Keeps rapists, murderers and child molesters in prison: Maintains the current law for registered sex offenders and anyone with prior convictions for rape, murder or child molestation.
- Stops government waste and redirects hundreds of millions from prison spending to K-12 and treatment: California counties will save hundreds of millions annually and state prison reductions will generate between $750 million to $1.25 billion in savings over the next five years alone. Those savings will be shifted into K-12 school programs (25%), victim services (10%) and mental health and drug treatment (65%).
- Protects public safety: Focuses law enforcement resources on violent and serious crimes, and directs savings to programs that stop the cycle of crime. Prisoners may only be released if they demonstrate that they are no longer a threat to public safety.
- Reduces the collateral consequences of felony convictions for low-level crime: Reduces the barriers that many with felony convictions for low-level nonviolent crimes face to becoming stable and productive citizens, such as employment, housing and access to assistance programs and professional trades.
H.E.A.R.T. did our part by helping with event setup as well as providing a booth advocating education. The festival was a family-safe day with music by Tribal Theory, Lyrical Groove, DJ Miki Vale, and the Thunder Squad Drumline. it also included free community resources, community marketplace,including The Blue Heart Foundation, Pat On The Back Foundation,FANCY Teen Girls Expo, Ground-Up Youth Foundation, Heartbeat MUSIC Academy, INC., Lincoln High School Cheerleaders, Father2Child, Alton Lister, Jeff Harper-Harris, Shaun Manning, Elizabeth Libbi Nichols, Torrion Dedmon, The Lyrical Groove, Tribal Theory, Dona Gonzales, Chef Rick, Tywnot?, Akroz, Imagine Media Group, San Diego Organizing Project & the SDUSD Board Trustee Marne Foster – District E Cabinet with all our support we made the Invest in Schools Not Prisons Community Festival a success.
