The Struggle Continues

Graphic by Nicolas Lampert for the Justseeds/Critical Resistance portfolio “Voices from the Outside” in 2008., courtesy of Justseeds Artists Cooperative. 

As of July 10th, Governor Newsom and the CDCR agreed to reduce the state’s prison’s population by 8,000 because of months of tireless organizing by incarcerated people and their allies. While organizers praise this move as a positive first step, the releases only represent 6% of the state’s prison population. Law Professor Hadar Aviram outlines the details of the plan, which focuses on non-violent offenders close to the end of their sentences with a limited shift to emphasis on medically vulnerable populations. She critiques several facets of the plan which make it insufficient to halt the spread of the virus and save lives. Firstly, health experts argue a 50% population reduction is necessary to stop the spread of the virus. California prisons are so overcrowded that nearly 20,000 people would need to be released for them to reach 100% capacity. Furthermore, case by case evaluations are impractical in the midst of a medical crisis with a growing death toll. Limited testing means the list of “hot spots” where releases will be prioritized is already dated and releases may not prevent new outbreaks. 

Finally, the plan excludes aging violent offenders who are the most vulnerable to health threats like Covid-19. These individuals make up a fourth of the state’s prison population and are the least likely to reoffend. Incarcerated people are 300% more likely to die of Covid-19 than their peers on the outside according to a new study by the UCLA prison law project and Johns Hopkins researchers. Abolitionists emphasize that their lives have inherent value. Their principles are embodied in the famous words of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, “Where life is precious, life is precious.”