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FEATURING DORTELL WILLIAMS - For years, the state of California has struggled with overcrowded jails and prisons. From the Three Strikes law, to life sentences without parole, California, according to the Vera Institute, is “one of the epicenters of mass incarceration in the United States.” After years of activism by abolitionist organizers, California voters in 2014 passed Proposition 47, which reduced some penalties on some offenses. 

This year, law enforcement and big retailers are joining forces to back a new ballot measure this November called Proposition 36, which would undo Proposition 47.  

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