new mini-doc: the California law letting gangsters go free
heather mac donald on the latest legal insanity from the golden state
Squad —
California was once a pioneer in tough-on-crime policies. The public repeatedly backed serious sentencing for violent criminals, most famously the three strikes law, which permanently incarcerates people who prove incapable of reform.
But California has changed.
Progressives have assumed full control of every branch of California government and are now systematically dismantling these laws. Their idealism is aiding and abetting criminals. And their campaign has found its most extreme expression in the “Racial Justice Act,” which is the subject of our newest mini-doc:
"This is an act that will take down the entire criminal justice system in California," says Heather Mac Donald, of the Manhattan Institute. "It is based on the idea that the entirety of California's criminal justice system.... is infected by bias.”
The Racial Justice Act runs on a familiar logic: a racial disparity in arrest or incarceration rates for a particular crime is proof positive of systemic racism. The disparity alone proves that there’s bias in the system. This theory of the world is that the only thing that explains racial disparities in the criminal justice system is racism.
And the Racial Justice Act hands criminals a new tool for defending themselves: simply showing a disparity in the way their offense has been prosecuted in the past forces the system to reconsider their case.
Watch the full mini-doc on our channel:
-gkp