What is this bill about?
SB 81 implements key recommendations made by the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office to improve California’s parole process, ensuring that parole applicants are receiving fair and unbiased consideration at their parole hearings.
How does it align with yli’s values?
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s (LAO’s) report, there are indications that California’s parole system too often allows parole commissioners to deny release based on subjective factors that could be influenced by implicit or explicit bias, rather than basing decisions on a factual demonstration of the person’s threat to public safety.
The LAO recommends that the Legislature address these problems by increasing transparency in the parole process; creating safeguards to ensure that decisions are objective and not influenced by improper biases; and providing adequate court oversight for parole decisions.
yli partners with thousands of youth across the state, the majority of whom are low-income youth of color. We witness first hand the brutal impacts of our state’s harmful “justice” system on their lives, and are staunch advocates of measures that will reduce the criminalization and incarceration of our communities.
This policy aligns with our Racial Justice Platform, which addresses the impacts of the carceral system on communities of color.
What is yli doing about it?
We have just submitted a letter endorsing this bill, and we are showing our support on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Who supports this bill?
- ACLU California Action
- American Friends Service Committee
- California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice
- California Attorneys for Criminal Justice Californians for Safety and Justice
- California Coalition for Women Prisoners
- California Families Against Solitary Confinement
- California Innocence Coalition: Northern California
- Innocence Project, California Innocence Project, Loyola Project for The Innocent
- California Public Defenders Association
- Californians United for A Responsible Budget
- Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
- CURE California
- Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
- Felony Murder Elimination Project
- Initiate Justice
- Initiate Justice Action
- Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
- Prison from the Inside Out
- Root & Rebound
- Safe Return Project
- San Francisco Public Defenders Office
- Showing Up for Racial Justice Bay Area
- Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition
- Smart Justice California
- Survived & Punished
- UnCommon Law