CRITERION 1: Health & Wellness of Incarcerated People

Incarcerated people are more likely to have a chronic health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure, and serious mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression, than the general population Climate hazards can exacerbate these health conditions. According to the California Department of Public Health, extreme heat can lead to heat-related illness and death and cardiovascular failure; wildfires and smoke can lead to injuries, fatalities, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; and severe weather and floods can lead to injuries and fatalities, as well as indoor fungi and mold to form Additionally, climate hazards negatively impact mental health conditions, including stress, anxiety, and depression.

To address the vulnerability of incarcerated people, our first criterion is Health and Wellness of Incarcerated People This is defined as 1) reducing exposure to the effects of climate hazards on incarcerated people and 2) promoting the physical and/or mental well-being of an incarcerated person in the event of a climate hazard. The indicators we used to assess physical and mental well-being are defined in Table 8 below.

Indicator Definition

Injury and Death

Whether a policy option can reduce injury and death during a climate hazard

Perceptions of Safety

Whether a policy option can promote realistic perceptions of safety among incarcerated people during a climate hazard

Access to Knowledge and Resources that Mitigate the Effects of Climate Hazards

Whether a policy option improved 1) incarcerated people’s understanding of emergency preparedness and response strategies, or 2) access to these climate hazards-mitigating resources

Living Conditions

Whether a policy improved the conditions of incarcerated individuals’ confinement. Living conditions could be improved through infrastructure upgrades, hazard mitigation strategies, and organizational changes within CDCR

CRITERION 2: Divest & Reinvest

Prisons are physically and psychologically harmful to the people held inside them: they are vulnerable to flooding and fires and tend to remain hot, cold, or wet enough to cause their inhabitants harm. As we have established, California prisons are also overcrowded, located in areas susceptible to climate hazards, and pose serious health risks to their inhabitants.

To directly address the harms of incarceration, our second criterion is Divest and Reinvest. This approach is commonly promoted by environmental justice advocates seeking disinvestment from the fossil fuel industry and investments into communities harmed by environmental injustices. The Movement for Black Lives, a national coalition advancing the political and cultural interests of the Black community, also uses this framework to call for divestment from criminalization and other systems that harm Black people and for redirection of those funds to enhance community support.

Divestment reduces investments in the state carceral system. Reinvestment increases investments in people being released from incarceration and communities facing environmental injustices, which often are the same ones experiencing the greatest impacts of the prison system. Upon release, people who are incarcerated need access to resources, including legal remedies and employment, for successful re-entry into society. Investing in re-entry services in communities to which people are returning reduces harm both to formerly incarcerated individuals and the larger communities. To reduce carceral harm through divestment and reinvestment, we analyzed policies using the framework described in Table 9.

CRITERIA PORTION

WAYSCRITERIAISFULFILLED

Policyoptionmustmeetatleast1fromeachportion

1.Optionclosesprisonssusceptibletoclimatehazards,directlytakingpeopleout ofharm’sway

Divest

2.Optionprovidesdecarcerationstrategiestoreducethecurrentprison population,including: a.Generaldecarcerationstrategies b.Rapid-releasestrategiesthatcanbeactivatedintimesofaclimatehazard

3.OptionreducesCDCR’sbudget

1.Optionincreasesinvestmentsinpeoplebeingreleasedfromincarcerationfor successfulre-entry

Reinvest

2.Optionincreasesinvestmentsincommunitiesthatareoverrepresentedwithin theCaliforniaprisonpopulation

3.Optionincreasesinvestmentsincommunitiesthatfaceenvironmentalharms