This is a big move by CA. Back in the '90s, as a deputy public defender in San Diego, a lot of my clients were housed in privately-run jails. CA had passed its 3-strikes rule, and we had clients getting sentenced to life in prison for petty theft w/ priors.
Let me say that again: I had clients who were homeless and hungry, and facing the possibility of spending the rest of their lives in prison for stealing lunchmeat from a grocery store. All because they had prior convictions.
Tbh, I don't think I realized then the ways that for-profit enterprise could create perverse incentives in the criminal justice system. I just saw the heartbreaking human cost. So many aspects of criminal justice reform are long overdue. Glad to see progress being made.
