Posts Tagged ‘parole’
Voting rights restored for Californians on parole
After over four decades of disenfranchisement, Californians on parole now have the right to vote. Because the U.S. invests heavily in mass incarceration, the number of people who have lost their right to vote because of their parole status has risen from 1.7 million Americans in 1976 to 6.1 million in 2016. This act would…
Read MoreOakland legislator pushing for parolees right to vote
Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), and a host of advocacy groups celebrate the passing of ”Free the Vote Act.”
Read MoreAs Prop 57 goes into effect, experts debate impact on youth, prison overcrowding
In November, Californians passed Proposition 57 by a 64.5 percent vote. Formally known as the California Parole for Non-Violent Criminals and Juvenile Court Trial Requirements Initiative, and strongly endorsed by Governor Jerry Brown, Oakland’s former mayor, the new law attempts to ease prison overcrowding by increasing parole opportunities for inmates and changing how juvenile offenders…
Read MoreSecond chances: An ex-convict’s path to higher education
On an early October morning in 1990, Ralph Spinelli swung open the back door of a large restaurant as he shoved his other hand into the pocket of his lightweight windbreaker, pretending to hold a gun. He had eaten at the restaurant several times before and knew that the door was unlocked around that time…
Read MoreOakland nonprofit helps parolees land on their feet
Veronica Hays stares out the window of a 12-person van cruising down I-580. In front and behind her, other passengers chat quietly with one another. Riding in a van with other parolees like herself on their way to volunteer has become a regular Saturday routine for Hays. This week they’re heading to the Alameda Food Bank where they will spend the afternoon organizing food donations. For Hays, just the thought of her sitting in this van, sober and out of prison, is enough to make her smile.
Read MoreJobs scarce for released inmates, Oakland’s working poor
When James Smith was released on parole in 2007, the Department of Corrections gave him $200 and pointed him out the door—he had no support, nowhere to go, nothing but the clothes on his back. It had been years since he had been on the outside. In a matter of months, Smith was asking his parole officer whether he could be sent back to prison rather than finish parole. Without a job, life outside proved to be difficult—too uncertain. “I couldn’t find a job,” said the 45-year-old Oakland native. “It’s like being a pariah.”
Read MoreNorth Oakland Now: A note on the police shootings
We’ll have more on this soon, but for now I just wanted to draw your attention to a few new details about the police shooting that took place over the weekend. According to the Oakland Tribune, the suspect in the shootings was a recent parolee trying to navigate a broken system. Last week we profiled…
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