Statement from Supervisor Ellenberg on Students Against Mass Incarceration Demonstration at San Jose City Hall
“I strongly support the students’ mission to end mass incarceration. That practice has not yielded a safer community and has exacerbated trauma and likely contributed considerably to recidivism. As the students expressly desire, County leaders and departments are working to reduce the number of people held in custody pre-trial whenever it is possible to do so safely, and we are just completing a multi-stakeholder study of alternatives to incarceration to deepen our work of focusing on safe, healthy outcomes for all of us.”
“Our reality is there are some people who, at least at the present moment, cannot remain safely in community and there are those who are required by law to remain in custody. For that population, I believe they deserve a setting that is dignified, doesn’t exacerbate trauma, and focuses from the very beginning on successful reintegration into the community when they are released from custody.”
“I led the pausing of the County’s pursuit of a new jail because I believed the work of building out our system of mental health and substance use disorder care needed to be prioritized. Now that the work of expanding access to inpatient and outpatient treatment at all levels of acuity is underway, I am comfortable returning to the conversation of what type of facility should replace - not add to - our current facilities, which are universally acknowledged to be in dismal condition. If the Board votes to move forward on such a new facility, funds will need to be identified to finance that project.”
“While there have been public estimates of the likely cost of a new jail facility, there are no actual funds waiting to be allocated to a jail versus any other use. We are currently pursuing many avenues for funding mental health and substance use disorder treatment facilities, as well as other alternatives to incarceration. I believe in this work and thank the students for their activism.”
-District Four Supervisor and Santa Clara County Board President Susan Ellenberg