Jonathan Simon quoted in The New York Times, July 30, 2015

“The benefit of being able to hold police accountable in many situations where they are now largely immune is probably worth the cost alone,” said Jonathan Simon. “But even more so when you consider how often the same cameras will provide damning evidence against criminal suspects as well.”

Jonathan Simon quoted in The New York Times, March 20, 2015

“As a group, police chiefs have always been more progressive than the rank-and-file, and it’s not all that clear that chiefs are going to be successful in carrying the rank-and-file with them,” Professor Simon said.

Jonathan Simon interviewed by Slate, March 18, 2015

“Does the Eighth Amendment just prevent torture, or does it protect something more? If it just protects us against torture then obviously it’s a very limited right, and we have to wait until things get really awful in prisons before courts are going to do anything. But if torture is just being protected against because it’s one way to destroy and degrade ‘human dignity,’ then I think almost everything we do in prison has to be rethought.”

Jonathan Simon interviewed by Slate, March 4, 2015

Many crimes are legally considered violent “even if no force is used, let alone injury suffered,” said Jonathan Simon. “Violence is a much more capacious legal category than most people assume.”

Jonathan Simon quoted in San Francisco Gate, January 24, 2015

“A society that places a value on public demonstrations, of which civil disobedience will be a part, should be cautious about going down that road” of requiring protesters to pay financial costs, Simon said. “Every demonstration will have very disruptive effects on business,” generally covered by insurance.

Jonathan Simon quoted in Pacific Standard, October 29, 2014

While mass incarceration is a problem everywhere in the United States … California has served as a crucible for this issue, the “Mississippi of mass incarceration,” in the words of University of California-Berkeley law professor Jonathan Simon.

Jonathan Simon quoted in TribLIVE, August 30, 2014

“Our consumption of drugs is what’s funding organized crime in their countries, and the resulting violence caused by those gangs is why they’re fleeing,” Simon said.

Jonathan Simon interviewed on This is Hell, August 2, 2014

“2014 is to mass incarceration what 1964 was to segregation – the year that it became totally discredited, but also ended up becoming the norm for American society.”

Jonathan Simon quoted in Inside Higher Ed, July 9, 2014

“Most people feel that prisons are a necessary evil. But when people learn about the inhumane conditions that persisted in California for more than a decade, they are genuinely disturbed and recognize that inhumane conditions undermine the moral legitimacy and public safety purpose of prisons.”

Jonathan Simon quoted in The Daily Californian, June 16, 2014

But opponents of long prison sentences — such as Jonathan Simon, a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law — argue punishments of the length Jarvis received exact a psychological toll and violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. “A penalty that serves no penological purpose can only be degrading,” Simon said in an email.