From Reform to Transform: California's Prop 47 and the Movement to End Mass Incarceration

In 2014, with prisons bursting at their seams and a national movement to end mass incarceration catching fire, a broad coalition of racial and social justice organizations in California launched a statewide, community-based campaign in support of California state Proposition 47, the Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative. Approved by a wide margin of California voters, the measure reduced most "nonserious and non-violent" property and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, an advance that is now slashing prison populations statewide. The community organizers who brought Prop 47 into existence are hopeful that California, the trend-setting state that set the bar for tough on crime policies across the nation, is now setting a trend to reverse them.

This half-hour installment of the Bringing Down the New Jim Crow radio documentary series features captivating interviews with some of the key racial justice advocates who made Prop 47 a reality. These social changemakers seek more than policy reform. They are working to transform the mindset and the conversation about race, punishment and justice in the US, a nation increasingly dissatisfied with its beleaguered and ineffective penal system. From Reform to Transform is produced by Chris Moore-Backman, and includes the music of Rhian Sheehan and Stray Theories.