Jonathan Simon

Is New York a model for fixing California prisons?

Jonathan Simon quoted in San Francisco Business Times, March 5, 2014

Law professor Jonathan Simon … pointed to prison reforms in the Empire State as a model that should be followed here in the Golden State. Simon, who teaches an undergraduate course on prisons, wrote on UC Berkeley’s official blog that although New York has a long history of “bad penal policy choices,” it also tends to fix those bad choices more quickly than other states, particularly California.

Beard must go: California needs a fresh start in Corrections

Jonathan Simon writes for San Francisco Bay View, August 22, 2013

Secretary Beard’s public statements since coming to the job reflect a complete failure to acknowledge the gravity of the human rights abuses his agency is guilty of and an apparent commitment to defend the status quo at any cost. Recent examples include his petulant refusal to take seriously the danger posed by Valley Fever to vulnerable inmates.

Gov Jerry Brown vows fight with judges over prisons

Jonathan Simon quoted in Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2013

Jonathan Simon, a law professor at UC Berkeley, said the Supreme Court could lighten the pressure by giving the state more time to meet the population cap. He noted the high court backed the limit only narrowly, in a 5-4 vote. “Will Justice Kennedy look at the progress … and say good enough?” Simon said, referring to the judge usually considered the court’s swing vote. “Quite possibly.”

America’s safer streets

Jonathan Simon quoted in The Economist, August 25, 2012

An emerging challenge for police in some cities is that tactics that prove effective in the short term may also lose them trust. Their widely used “stop-and frisk” powers in New York City, for example, may have taken thousands of guns off the street, but they have also led to furious allegations of racial profiling. “We’ve figured out that encounters with young people reduce violence, but they also have negative effects,” says Mr. Simon. “Let’s see if we can separate the two.”

Mass incarceration as a public policy

Jonathan Simon cited in The Huffington Post, The Blog, April 24, 2012

Although Professor Simon concluded that the era of mass incarceration has come to an end, too expensive to continue as a public policy, he cautioned that no one should expect incarceration rates to drop precipitously. The end of “mass incarceration” only meant that the hyperbolic growth of the past 30 years would stop.

Are Stay-Away Orders Against UC Berkeley Students Unconstitutional?

Jonathan Simon quoted in East Bay Express, March 28, 2012

Law School professor Jonathan Simon said there is a “very real concern that the stay-away orders are pretextual” and meant specifically to chill First Amendment activity…. Overall, he sees the Alameda County DA’s use of stay-aways against Occupy Cal protesters as reflective of concerns that Occupy Cal “would become an extension of a strong Occupy Oakland movement,” and is meant to serve as a “cold, calculating deterrent to students that this is what can happen if you step out of line.”

Stay-away orders against Occupy Cal protesters disputed

Jonathan Simon quoted in The Daily Californian, March 22, 2012

UC Berkeley School of Law professor Jonathan Simon said in an email that court-issued stay-away orders in general are “a very serious infringement of fundamental rights” and “should never be used unless a very credible threat exists,” but that they are “not uncommon” when there are concerns about ongoing violations.