Caitlin Henry, CCJS lecturer will present her research, How Assembly Bill 1540 Can Save Costs and Lives During the Dual Pandemic of COVID and Racism.
This project is analyzing and suggesting improvements to the implementation of recent bills that amended California’s Penal Code to give people of chance to have judges reconsider their sentences “in the interest of justice” to “eliminate disparity of sentences” and “promote uniformity in sentencing.” In order to understand the efficacy of the implementation of these bills it is crucial to review the data presented to the courts. This project will focus on data *obtained through a SSU initiated Public Records Act request* that impacts the likelihood and outcome of referrals to courts, including race and ethnicity. The analysis will evaluate whether the new legislation moves the prisons, district attorneys, and courts toward fulfilling the mandate of AB 1812 (2018), to reduce prison capacityin a manner that maximizes long term facility savings, leverages long-term investments, and maintains flexibility to comply with the court ordered population cap, and meets the legislature’s goal of closing four CDCR prisons.
Caitlin Henry is a lecturer in the CCJS department and runs SSU's Social Justice Week. Her research focuses on racialized social control and reducing and eliminating the use of incarceration.
The School of Social Sciences Brown Bag Series is always free, open to faculty, staff, students, and the public, and provides a congenial interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of recent research by School of Social Sciences faculty. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022-2023 Brown Bag Series will take place via Zoom.