I spent my BART ride into work reading about all the propositions that haven’t been widely in the news. It is fascinating what these pieces of legislation say about us as a society – particularly the three California initiatives that revolve around the criminal justice system. I am heartened that we are looking for ways to begin to move our criminal justice system from one of incarceration to one of rehabilitation; disgusted that our prisons and police want to have a percentage of the budget allocated in the same way that we allocate money to education; and deeply saddened at our willingness to increase the prison population, make sentencing more prescriptive and find new terms like “gang-related” which are only code for young men of color.

These potential amendments in particular give me great pause today. Are we really prepared to throw away a whole segment of the population? Are we so short-sighted that we believe incarceration is a better option than health care and education? Did you know that prison planners look at 2nd and 3rd grade test scores as a reliable method of creating and constructing prisons? Why are we so eager to fund incarceration for segregation rather than rehabilitating young men so they can become responsible and productive members of their communities?

I have no answers just now, only questions. And I’m sure more will crop up throughout the day – more news as it develops…

Let’s face it, each team is trying to grab and maintain power. I think the best thing we could do is begin to form coalitions that defy right and left to make change happen in the world. More on that later.