REGION: Local ACLU creates criminal justice watchdog job

REGION: Local ACLU creates criminal justice watchdog job

"In the face of sweeping changes to the way the state houses prisoners, the American Civil Liberties Union has hired watchdogs to keep an eye on how those changes are implemented, a local ACLU leader said last week.

To that end, the San Diego and Imperial counties chapter of the ACLU recently hired North County native Margaret Dooley-Sammuli to review criminal justice and drug policies related to "realignment," which is what the state has dubbed the massive changes that went into effect last fall.

Under realignment, certain inmates serving time for felonies will stay in county jails instead of getting shipped off to state prison. The sentences for the inmates don't change; only their housing does.

Many people, including criminal justice scholars and the county's law enforcement leaders, have hailed realignment as a chance to not only overhaul rehabilitation of prisoners, but also to implement more effective practices to cut down on recidivism and give convicted criminals a chance to successfully reintegrate into society.

In a state where 70 percent of its parolees landed back behind bars within three years, better reintegration into society translates into improved public safety, said Kevin Keenan, executive director of the local ACLU chapter.

Keenan said the decision to create watchdog jobs like Dooley-Sammuli's "is about the best possible public safety outcome for all people."

"We have a chance to make things better in this moment, and we should all be focused on doing things sensibly," Keenan said.

Under realignment, the county has said it expects to see an extra 2,000 convicted criminals in local jails each year, inmates who would have otherwise gone to state prisons.

"At the local level, what I will be doing is watching the (local) implementation of realignment and working with public safety agencies to bring our concerns and recommendations," Dooley-Sammuli said. "We'd like to support a good implementation of realignment.

"Exactly how and what role the ACLU plays will sort of depend on what the county is doing to implement realignment," she said."

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/region-local-aclu-creates-criminal-justice-watchdog-job/article_b230f2a3-b2fb-5b5d-8494-bd1594024329.html#ixzz1mZLMC41N