“Every problem has a solution, and every solution begins with a conversation.”
A motto Ernst Fenelon Jr. lives by.
Fenelon was formerly incarcerated for 14.5 years and has been home for 19 years. His goal is to make the world better for his 11-year-old son. He is now a multifaceted artist who focuses on education and reentry reform and is the Program Coordinator for the Prison Education Project.
Fenelon views Proposition 36 in the perspective of it aiming to reverse previous propositions due to rising crime rates, and critiques its hard-on-crime narrative. Proposition 36 is on the California ballot for the upcoming election. It would increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes. The measure would allow felony charges to be brought against anyone twice convicted of theft under $950 or drug-related crimes on their third offense.
Prop 36 would overturn Proposition 47, which reclassified certain crimes and introduced diversion programs.
“When you look at any proposition, you want to look at the surface of it, but then you also want to look a little deeper,” Fenelon said.
Leesa Nomura, a statewide membership organizer with the California Coalition for Women’s Prisoners (CCWP), and mother of six,believes Prop 36 will create a cycle of fear.
“A whole scenario of situations could spark in a situation when prison is in play for a basic drug possession, when what is actually going on that’s informing the situation, a drug problem,” Nomura said.
Nomura was formerly incarcerated. This January will mark five years of being home. She served a majority of her prison term in Central California Women’s Facility serving a determinate sentence of 10 years out of a 15 year prison term.
Once released Nomura went straight to education as a Project Rebound Scholar, getting a degree in Human Services at California State Fullerton with the goals of becoming a licensed counselor for those dealing with trauma and eventually opening up a practice for women with trauma.
Nomura expressed feelings of being uneasy.
“I began to realize that a lot of that stemmed from my prison experience. A couple years prior to my release, I was assaulted by a medical staff member during a routine pap smear. And was forced to brush it off,” said Nomura.
Influenced by the survivors who were standing up for themselves and reporting those who hurt them while in prison, Nomura said, “I was astounded. I was in awe of their bravery. I have the liberty to move freely where they cannot, so I gotta move,”
Now working with CCWP, Nomura is advocating for the rights of women in prisons and fighting against propositions like this one.
Supporters are marketing the bill as a public safety bill. But does it actually do that?
Nomura uses the anecdote of going to the local Target to grab a Dove deodorant and now you have to ask the guy in target to go unlock the barrier placed.
Prop 36 supporters say that the Dove deodorant is locked up because people in your community are coming in there to steal it. If Prop 36 passes, the next time somebody comes and tries to steal it, what would normally be a misdemeanor will now be a felony charge, Nomura explained.
“Prop 36 ‘promises’ you’ll be able to go to Target and pick up the deodorant and pay right away,” Nomura said.
However, on the other end, Prop 36 will swing the pendulum of the prison system back 15 years. Nomura said those who are funneled back into the prison systems, who have drug offenses, are not going to be getting the help that they need.
“So you want to liberate your $3.50 deodorant so that we can lock back up hundreds and hundreds of people at the expense of millions and millions of tax dollars that used to be a part of treatment programs, but now will be [incarcerated] again,” Nomura said.
The California Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal and policy advisor from the Legislative Analyst’s Office explains Prop 36 likely would increase the county population, which can be around a few thousand people. There are about 250,000 people at the county level now.
In doing this the state criminal justice cost ranges from several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of dollars each year. This amount is less than one-half of one percent of the state’s total general fund budget.
When trying to re-acclimate in certain spaces, in certain social settings and in college settings Nomura experienced many hindrances.
“I had a lot of imposter syndrome feelings,” Nomura said. “I had a lot of feelings of awkwardness. I had a lot of feelings of anger and resentment.”
“A felony can affect your employment and it can affect your housing,” Fenelon said. “It can affect getting certain things like life insurance. It can affect many aspects of their ability to reintegrate into society.”
Fenelon said, what is in place already causes stigmatization and creates limited options which lead to recidivism. Fenelon advocates for a reimagined approach to crime reduction, focusing on education and reintegration rather than stigmatization and punishment. He calls for more effective government resource allocation to address societal issues like homelessness.
The California Legislature’s Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor from the Legislative Analyst’s Office explains Prop 36 would undo parts of Prop 47 and lower its state savings. This would reduce the amount the state must spend on mental health and drug treatment, school truancy,dropout prevention, and victim services. This reduction likely would be in the low tens of millions of dollars annually.
“How can we make our resources more effective to create safer and more productive communities for everybody?” Fenelon said.
The focus on smash-and-grab crimes is misleading, explains Fenelon. As he criticizes the media for portraying Prop 36 as a hard-on-crime measure and for fear-mongering, particularly targeting people of color.
“There is clear evidence in this country that people of color are sentenced to prison more than people who are not of color, Blacks more likely than whites and Hispanics again, people of color, again, it creates the opportunity for disenfranchised communities to provide cheap labor,” Fenelon said.
“The barriers created by felony convictions affect employment, housing and other aspects of life,” Fenelon said.
Fenelon suggests that resources should be directed towards creating safer and more productive communities, creating options for forgiveness and diversion rather than being hard on crime.
Fenelon calls for voters to be careful, read beyond the surface and reimagine ways to move forward beyond fear.