Civil Rights for Former Prisoners Now!

LSPC, All of Us or None, and the Family Advocacy Network demand an end to discrimination against former prisoners. The California parole system is a billion-dollar failure, but the problem is not just a budget crisis. The very survival and well-being of our families and our communities are being threatened. We need sweeping and fundamental changes, not just band-aids on this failed system or a patchwork of partial reforms.

We demand the following changes to the parole system:

• Re-constitute the Board of Prison Terms based on community involvement rather than political patronage. The afocus should be on helping people successfully return to their families and communities instead of on surveillance and punishment.
• Establish pre-release services and transition planning for prisoners prior to their release. Pre-release needs assessment surveys should be contracted out to community-based organizations or at least to an entity that prisoners can trust with the truth, without fear of further punishment.
• End technical parole violations for infractions such as address changes or missing a parole appointment. The Board of Prison Terms should end its bias against lifers and follow its own guidelines regarding parole for people with life sentences.
• Release aging prisoners, women who committed crimes in response to domestic violence, and everyone who qualifies for compassionate release.
• Implement the changes in parole policy mandated by Valdivia v. Schwarzenegger.
• The California Department of Corrections is developing a plan to reduce the prisoner population by 15,000 people by June 2005. Given the release of this many prisoners, the State of California
• should not open Delano II
• should close Valley State Prison for Women, Folsom State Prison, Pelican Bay State Prison, and the California Correctional Center at Susanville
• A significant amount of the money saved by closing these prisons should be reallocated to community-based services to facilitate the reintegration of people coming out of prison back into the community. We need:
• More drug and alcohol treatment centers, particularly for youth.
• More long-term transitional housing for parolees, not limited to residential treatment facilities. Increase transitional housing available for mothers with their children, including teen mothers.
• Alternatives to incarceration for parole revocation.
• Job skills training and employment counseling for people coming out of prison and Youth Authority facilities.

We demand an end to all unfair discriminatory practices against people with felony convictions.

The State of California should:

• Opt out of the federal welfare ban directed against people with drug felony convictions.
• Reverse one-strike eviction policies in public housing.
• End all statutory barriers to employment for people with felony convictions.
• Restore voting rights to prisoners and parolees.
• Adopt the Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents sponsored by the San Francisco Partnership for Incarcerated Parents.