Daniel Abrahamson, co-author of Proposition 5 and Director of Legal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance Network, publicly called out California Attorney General and former governor Jerry Brown on his motives behind opposing Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act. No on Prop 5 is heavily financed by California's prison guard union, who is in turn supporting Brown's bid for Governor in 2010. Interestingly, US Senator Dianne Feinstein, another prominent opponent of Prop 5 (and......

This ad is the first Yes on Prop 5 spot and is entitled "Warden." It features Jeanne Woodford, former warden of San Quentin State Prison and former Director of the California Department of Corrections. Against a backdrop of images of San Quentin, she speaks of her 25 years working at the prison, where she began as a prison guard. "Let me tell you," Woodford says, "too many of the men I dealt with started......

Photo by adshaw80 via Flickr Whether you're sitting in front of your absentee ballot or you're readying yourself for voting in person on November, you're looking at national and local elections as well as a slew of California ballot propositions -- 12 to be exact. Well, over the course of this election cycle, LAist writers have posted about 10 of the 12 propositions. We present to you our posts on each proposition, for a......

Photo by kr4gin via Flickr Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act, on the California ballot this year, significantly expands on Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, passed in California in 2000 by 61% of voters. In this regard, it is quite timely that this month, the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program released its 2008 report on the progress of Proposition 36 (link to .pdf of report). Prop 36 allows first......

What is Proposition 6? Prop 6, also known as the Runner Initiative or the Safe Neighborhoods Act, is a move to increase funding for police and prisons and toughen penalties on "gang-related" and drug crime . It has been introduced by George Runner (Republican state senator) and his wife Sharon Runner (Republican state assemblywoman). The proposition would deem any youth 14 years or older who is convicted of a gang-related felony fit to be......

Photo not of Young Dems, but pretty cool shot anyway | Photo by ercwttmn via Flickr For left-leaning teens and young adults aged 14 through 35, the California Democratic Party has an official "youth arm" for them called the California Young Democrats. The organization has already taken a position on November's ballot, which is three months away as of yesterday. “Mobilizing young voters in California will be the key to victory on many important......