We were asked to begin researching our perspective research topic, and provide an annotated bibliography. Finally, we were asked to provide a possible argument for our first paper.

1. Does the multi-modality of the Historical Conversations Project mean that we will be researching another mode of information such as video or audio?
Does the two main article of evidence or artifacts have to an image or graph? Or can they just be an article?

2.Office of Research. “2013 Outcome Evaluation Report” Sacramento, California: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2013. Web. <http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/adult_research_branch/research_documents/outcome_evaluation_report_2013.pdf>

Austin, James, Ph.D.; Naro-Ware, Wendy; Ocker, Roger; Harris, Robert; Allen, Robin. “Evaluation of the Current and Future Los Angeles County Jail Population”. Malibu, CA: The JFA Institute, 2012. Web.

Sewell, Abby. "Sentence Reduction Law Sparks Sharp Drop in L.A. County Jail Crowding." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2016. Web. 28 June 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-realignment-report-20150127-story.html>.

Malone, Mei-Ling Nomusa, Ph.D., “The Impact of California's Prison Proliferation on Los Angeles Urban High Schools”. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles, 2011.
<http://search.proquest.com/docview/910257341/previewPDF/1DFA8DD1F8BB41FBPQ/1?accountid=14509>

Grattet, Ryken; Hayes, Joseph. “California’s Changing Prison Population”. Public Policy Institute of California, April 2015. Web. <http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702>

3a. Office of Research. “2013 Outcome Evaluation Report” Sacramento, California: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2013. Web. In this report, the many authors including Jeffrey Beard, Ph.D. secretary, give the data on the arrests, convictions, and returns to state prisons of the state of California. They use pie charts to easily illustrates the statistics of the situation, and explain the value of their report, in which returns to state prisons are the primary standard. Based on their findings, they can give the data on recidivists, or those who have been convicted of a felony and incarcerated, released on parole, and then subsequently returned to the institution during a follow up period. The report can be utilized as a source of data and evidence to back up arguments for the decrease in incarceration rates.

Austin, James, Ph.D.; Naro-Ware, Wendy; Ocker, Roger; Harris, Robert; Allen, Robin. “Evaluation of the Current and Future Los Angeles County Jail Population”. Malibu, CA: The JFA Institute, 2012. Web These authors, most notably James Austin, Ph.D., look into the possibilities of the growing Los Angeles County Jail populations using statistics and research. They analyze other related factors, such as the decreasing crime rate, and distinguish the differences in the bookings and inmates. Noting that the majority of criminals that are in the prisons are violent or sex criminals , as well as the incarceration rates, which are below the state rate, the group gives a comprehensive report on the prisons. The interested reader would appreciate the concise summary at the beginning, while the report itself provides solid evidence and arguments for the stagnation of policy changes to the county prisons.

Sewell, Abby. "Sentence Reduction Law Sparks Sharp Drop in L.A. County Jail Crowding." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2016. Web. 28 June 2016. Abby Sewell, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, provides information on the consequences of the passage of Proposition 47. She gives history on the overcrowding of the jails, and then ties this back to the drop in jail population since the passage of the bill. Besides this, she also reports the length of stay increasing because of the falling populations, allowing for the jails to keep prisoners for most of their sentence. The reader who is interested in the county’s legal affairs will find this report useful, and it could also be used to argue for the continued trend of lowering prison populations.

Malone, Mei-Ling Nomusa, Ph.D., “The Impact of California's Prison Proliferation on Los Angeles Urban High Schools”. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Los Angeles, 2011. Mei-Ling Nomusa Malone, now a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, argues that the criminal laws and school discipline policies during the 1980's to 2000's greatly affected the over-incarceration and undereducation of blacks and latinos in California. She utilizes research in the fields of prisons as well as first person interviews with students at an urban high schools in Los Angeles to ascertain the affects of such laws and disciplinary policies. This paper can be used to highlight the strict policies in place in the state and city, and can be used to argue for relaxing the disciplinary codes and laws that convict and criminalize so many.

Grattet, Ryken; Hayes, Joseph. “California’s Changing Prison Population”. Public Policy Institute of California, April 2015. Web. Grattet and Hayes use a simple outline to explain in a concise manner the state of Californian prisons and what the future may look like. They employ statistical tactics and public policy decisions such as the 2009 Supreme Court decision to relate other actions back to the situation in California. They also give details on the demographics involved and the kinds of criminals in the prisons. A casual reader who is interested in California crime and prisons will find this article particularly helpful, while the article could also be used as information to back up claims such as the lowering of prison populations.

3b.
I decided on this topic because I was researching gang violence in Los Angeles and repeatedly came across the consequences and jail sentences that many offenders were given. This, along with the Coates article that we read about last week, interested me in the jails that I have heard have become overcrowded in California and Los Angeles. From there, I was interested in how criminals are sentenced and for how long, as well as what solutions there are to fixing the overcrowding problem in California. This is important to many Californians, because taxpayer dollars are what pay for the care of the many inmates and maintenance of prisons. Reducing the number of inmates help to offset the immense costs that the state must deal with.
3c. I have been able to find that the overcrowding had many causes, but the primary one could be attributed to the strict penal codes that California has, including felony charges for actions that other places may consider misdemeanors. Recently, Proposition 47 has changed this, such as drug possession being changed from a felony to a misdemeanor, which has helped combat the overcrowding of prisons. This has allowed the length of sentences in California to be closer to their full length, rather than releasing inmates on parole. The history of the crackdown on crime in California can be attributed to the large amounts of violence and unrest of the period 1980- 2000. Most of the country’s large cities also experienced an During this time, many strict drug laws were placed to combat the issues of the period. Because of the many offenders, many were charged and the prisons became filled. This is supported by the fact that many prisoners are now above the age of 50.

3d. Despite the measures taken to reduce the number of prisoners and overcrowding in California and Los Angeles County prisons, the number of prisoners is still expected to increase in the coming years.
Argument: The cause of the vast numbers of prisoners is due to extremely strict laws that were put into place during a time period of mass unrest in the whole country. Compared with the state of the city and country in the current time period, such strict laws are no longer needed and can be relaxed (such as in Proposition 47) in order to mitigate the increases in prisoners as well as prevent the ill effects of incarceration that affect those that are put into this state.
Question: Is the overcrowding in California prisons due to the strict laws that were put into place during the unrest of the period 1980-2000, or can it be attributed to other factors?