SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) moderated a panel about the status of incarceration in California. The panel was part of the State of Black California, an informational briefing to address the issues confronting black Californians, including education, health, public safety, tech diversity and the black vote.
“California has invested in criminalization as the go-to response for a host of social issues, from drug use to homelessness to school discipline,” said Assemblymember Kamlager-Dove during her opening remarks. “Prisons, policing and punishment-based approaches make us less safe, and obstruct people of color and low-income communities from influencing policies that impact our lives.”
Kamlager-Dove’s panel included five speakers who offered their opinions about incarceration, recidivism and rehabilitation including:
- Brant Choate, CA Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Director, Division of Rehabilitative Programs
- Connie Gipson, CA Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Director, Division of Adult Institutions
- Kelly Lytle Hernández, Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, UCLA
- Zachary Norris, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Executive Director
- Michael Romano, Three Strikes Project, Stanford Law School, Director and Founder
At the conclusion of the event Kamlager-Dove said, “The State of Black California shows the continued importance of the California Legislative Black Caucus to raise the profile of black Californians as well as the burden, experience and needs of Black Californians. The interconnectedness between healthcare, education, employment, voter engagement and the prison pipeline system are not lost on me. If we’re not fixing all of them, we’re not fixing any of them.”
Assembly District 54 consists of Baldwin Hills, Cheviot Hills, the Crenshaw District, Century City, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Mar Vista, Palms, Rancho Park, Westwood and parts of South Los Angeles and Inglewood.
