Prof. Steven Raphael on Criminal Justice Reform in California

In this talk Prof. Steven Raphael will detail the policies driving incarceration changes in California, the manner in which the state reduced prison and jail populations, and the effects of these changes on state crime rates and racial disproportionality in the California's criminal justice system. For more information on this event visit:

Steven Raphael is a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley and holds the James D. Marver Chair at the Goldman School of Public Policy. His research focuses on the economics of low-wage labor markets, housing, and the economics of crime and corrections. His most recent research focuses on the social consequences of large increases in U.S. incarceration rates, as well as racial disparities in criminal justice outcomes. Raphael also works on immigration policy, racial inequality, the economics of labor unions, social insurance policies, homelessness, and low-income housing. He is the author (with Michael Stoll) of Why Are so Many Americans in Prison? and The New Scarlet Letter? Negotiating the U.S. Labor Market with a Criminal Record.

The Vera Institute of Justice is a nonprofit that has worked for more than five decades to transform justice systems. Vera produces ideas, analysis and research that inspire change in the systems people rely upon for safety and justice, and works in close partnership with government and civic leaders to implement it.

[eileenmulhall]

I recently looking into the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Like reclassifying crimes as misdemeanors v. felonies, the guidelines provide the parameters in which the convicted can be sentenced. It might be beneficial to revisit the guidelines to, as another means of reform.