Recently, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors came together to take a crucial stand against Proposition 36—a ballot measure that threatens to take our state back to the failed mass incarceration days of the past while removing funding for reentry programs for returning citizens that are critical to keeping our communities safe.
In 1993, Pam Thompson was one of them. Her story is a familiar one: poverty, limited opportunity and systemic barriers leading to a cycle of crime and punishment. Pam, who grew up around gangs in Compton, was first arrested at 17 and later served four years in prison. This mirrors the experience of 44% of justice-impacted Californians, who find themselves re-entering the criminal justice system within three years of their release.
When she was released, Pam faced the daunting challenge of reintegrating into society. Finding stable employment was nearly impossible with a criminal record, and transitional housing options were scarce. Like many of our justice-impacted neighbors, she had few options to survive, so she began selling drugs and was sent back to prison for 24 years.
But Pam’s story doesn’t end there. When she was paroled in 2019, she discovered that reentry resources had vastly improved, including A New Way of Life Reentry Project. The program provided job training, transitional housing, and support to heal from trauma—helping her stay out of prison for good.
Programs like the one Pam benefitted from are state-funded reentry services that emerged out of critical, common-sense criminal justice reform in California over the past decade. These are real solutions that get people back on their feet, train them for a job, pair them with transitional housing, and ultimately, keep them from committing new crimes.
But this November, big corporations, the prison lobby, and right-wing interests are backing Prop 36, which would take away these programs and return us to failed mass incarceration policies of the past. Voices like the LA Board of Supervisors are critical in the fights against undoing reforms that have advanced both safety and justice in our communities—but they aren’t enough. Angelenos who believe in real solutions for safety and justice to vote no at the ballot box this November.
Prop 36 preys on people’s legitimate concerns about crime by pushing a return to the failed policies of the past. If this ballot initiative passes, it would reinstate longer sentences for minor crimes and strip tens of millions of dollars from critical crime prevention programs like mental health and drug treatment. The end result? The state’s jail and prison population will balloon at the expense of taxpayers while depriving people and communities of the investments that keep us safe, stable and healthy.
Let’s be clear—concerns about crime are legitimate and need to be addressed. Across California, 64% of residents say crime is a serious or very serious problem, and 69% of Angelenos report that they consider it a serious problem. But we all deserve better than attempts to weaponize fear through sensationalized narratives about crime spiraling out of control.
The truth is, across California, crime has been decreasing for decades and reached historic lows after criminal justice reforms were made in the early 2010s.
The success of reentry programs shows that change is possible by working directly with justice-impacted individuals to help them successfully rehabilitate. For example, from 2019 to 2023, 90% of people in Los Angeles who received diversion and reentry services—the kind threatened by Proposition 36—weren’t convicted of any new crimes.
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These programs don’t work with just adults; they also successfully stop the prison pipeline for young people. One initiative in the El Rancho Unified School District led to an 89% decrease in arrests and citations for students, a 40% decrease in reported guns on campus, and a 33% decrease in gang membership.
Because of California’s supportive re-entry systems, Pam Thompson is now a life coach and has recently been promoted to manager. She has helped hundreds of other justice-impacted individuals get back on their feet. They deserve that support, just as we all deserve a chance at redemption.
We know from experience that punitive measures don’t create lasting change—programs that focus on rehabilitation and support do. Pam Thompson’s story is just one of thousands, showing us that when we invest in people, we also invest in real solutions for our state’s future. By voting no on Prop 36, we vote for safer, stronger communities.
Michelle Parris, Director of Vera California, works with community and government to support Los Angeles County’s efforts to expand alternatives to incarceration, diversion, and community-based systems of care.
