Keep tabs on the latest California policy and politics news
Another decision was equally momentous: the justices rejected, 7-2, the administration’s lawsuit against parts of the California Values Act, the state’s “Sanctuary Law.”
While the California Values Act has reduced local jail transfers to ICE by an estimated 41%, we must not turn our backs on community members who have been criminalized by a legal system plagued with racism.
Like never before, a broad swath of people across the U.S. are recognizing that policing and incarceration criminalize black people and communities of color.
In the throes of COVID-19, these exclusions may amount to a death sentence, as medical neglect and the impossibility of physical distancing during incarceration have led to twin crises in California’s prisons and jails, and in ICE detention.
And more broadly speaking, California should also take strong measures to free people from state custody.