By Michael Montgomery, KQED’s California Report
Last October, California embarked on an unprecedented overhaul of its criminal justice system, known as realignment. Under court order to ease prison overcrowding, the state shifted responsibility for thousands of felons to local counties. The state also gave money to the counties and broad discretion over how to spend it handling the felons. Inmates convicted of low-level offenses are now serving time in county jails or on probation. Since then, the state inmate population has dropped dramatically. But there’s a growing disparity over how realignment is impacting counties, especially county jails.
Read the complete story at KQED’s California Report.
