LEGISLATION AND POWER BUILDING

STATEWIDE CHANGE COMES FROM GRASSROOTS POWER

The pathway toward abolition requires work at the local, county, and state level to shift the laws and narratives that uphold incarceration and law enforcement violence.

That’s why DPN anchors the Care First California Coalition, which fights for abolition at the state level, with a focus on ending pretrial incarceration. Thousands of those held in California jails are still legally innocent, often because they cannot afford bail. 

Care First California develops policy and legislation that aim to end money bail, reject risk assessments, reduce the number of people eligible for pretrial incarceration, and develop community based pretrial services that are completely independent of law enforcement. When we invest in the resources our communities need such as housing, rehabilitation, and mental health treatment, we can interrupt the cycle of violence caused by incarceration and criminalization.
66%
of people in California jails are awaiting trial. (source)
Individuals lose an average of $29,000 in lifetime-earnings when detained in jail for just three days (source)
Between 2011-2022, jail populations decreased 12% while jail deaths increased 80%. Getting arrested can be a death sentence. (source)

HISTORY OF THE FIGHT

2018
Community organizers and abolitionists came together to draft SB 10, aiming to end cash bail and reform California’s pretrial system.

But as the bill moved through the legislature, lawmakers added amendments (without input from the community partners who wrote it) that replaced cash bail with risk assessments and electronic monitoring, rather than investing in comprehensive pretrial services.

Despite a campaign to stop the bill in its compromised form, it was passed into law.
2020
The same group of dedicated organizers—including Dignity and Power Now—who opposed SB 10 went on to create the “No” on Prop 25 campaign, to prevent a ballot measure that would codify SB10.

Thanks to the grassroots power and persistence of abolitionists across California, we won and SB 10 was repealed! 
2021
Many of the organizations that worked on the “No” on Prop 25 campaign wanted to continue the fight to end pretrial incarceration in California.

They came together to form the Care First California (CFC) Coalition, which is anchored by DPN.

They began working on a comprehensive piece of legislation called the Preserving the Presumption of Innocence Act.
2022
CFC created its first regional satellite coalition in Kern County California called Care First Kern.

This coalition is made up of grassroots Bakersfield organizations, impacted families, and CFC members, dedicated to ending pretrial incarceration and Sheriff violence in Kern.  
2023
CFC published "A Decade of Lives Lost”, a report that analyzed every single death in Sheriff custody between 2011 and 2022.

Before 2022, this data was not available publicly in every California county. 
2024
CFC completed the Preserving the Presumption of Innocence Act (PPI).

PPI is a legislative framework that seeks to end money bail, eliminate biased and harmful ‘risk assessments’, and drastically reduce pretrial incarceration.

We believe care—not cages—is the answer.

Everyone deserves access to community-based support outside of the cycle of incarceration.
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now
Dignity & Power Now Meeting
Dignity & Power Now Meeting
Dignity & Power Now Event
Dignity & Power Now Meeting
Dignity & Power Now Press Conference
Dignity & Power Now Meeting
Dignity & Power Now Meeting
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Through statewide coalition building, grassroots organizing, and advocacy led by those most impacted.

We work to move California away from carceral responses and toward policies that prioritize community care, healing justice, and collective liberation.

we continue to:

  • Create public education materials in the form of mini-documentaries, reports, social media content, and presentations to bring awareness to the harmful effects of pretrial incarceration and the power of investing in alternatives.
  • Lobby for pieces of legislation aligned with PPI principles while preparing to move forward the PPI agenda in the next legislative cycle.
  • Collaborate with counties such as Sacramento, Kern, Orange County, San Diego, and Riverside on press events and screenings.
  • Participate in state conferences on alternative pretrial systems, and in coordinated days of legislative action.
  • Care First California’s regional satellite, Care First Kern, is talking with the Kern County Public Defender’s office to assemble a list of pretrial resources, and inform a policy campaign in the county with the highest rate of law enforcement violence in the country.
Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now

Hear directly from community members and leaders who have experienced the harm of pretrial incarceration and the transformational power of care-based alternatives. Their voices shape this campaign—and drive it forward.

Dominique Davis

“It was just so many loops to jump through to receive treatment. You really need someone who’s going to fight for you, and I think that’s one of the things that wasn’t provided on that aspect of probation.

Peer support is where it’s at. We need more formerly incarcerated counselors. We need more formerly incarcerated therapists in addiction studies. All those types of services."

Director for Young Women’s Free Center and formerly incarcerated pretrial speaking in CFC mini documentary Probation-Led Pretrial is Mass Incarceration

Dignity & Power Now Meeting

more care, less cages

We are hard at work building and implementing policies across the state. Together, we can dismantle harmful systems of incarceration and pretrial incarceration—and build something better. 

A lot of the legislative work we do happens in the Care First California coalition space.

We invite you to learn how to get involved.

Invest in a Future of Care

Support our fight to end unjust pretrial detention and invest in systems of community care.

Your contributions help us protect the most impacted, build power, mobilize communities, and push for transformative legislation.

Legislation & Power Building - Dignity & Power Now

Uncovering the Truth Behind In-Custody Deaths

  • Through a series of PRA requests to the BSCC, Attorney General, and Sheriff Departments, CFC has gathered, analyzed, and created a series of in-custody deaths reports with previously unavailable data.

    Some of our findings are:
    • 84% of in-custody deaths occur before their case is resolved.
    • Since 2011 jail populations have decreased 12%, while in-custody deaths have increased
    • In Los Angeles, 71% of in-custody deaths occur pretrial.
    • Approximately 41% of all people detained in Riverside jails have an open mental health case.
  • CFC completed omnibus legislation the Preserving the Presumption of Innocence Act.
  • CFC hosted Los Angeles In-Custody Deaths Town Hall with new BSCC Director of In-Custody Deaths Review Allison Ganter.
  • The 2-hour virtual town hall had over 60 people including researchers, lawyers, directly impacted community members, and other Sheriff oversight personnel in attendance.