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New data from the Los Angeles District Attorney's office suggests that Los Angeles County prosecutors are beginning to embrace split sentencing for low-level felons - though they're still far behind Orange and Riverside counties.
Under California's realignment law in 2011, low-level offenders can serve half their time behind bars, and the rest on mandatory probation where they can access rehabilitation services. Advocates say it reduces recidivism and reduces jail crowding.
Many counties throughout the state have used the policy, called split sentencing, to reduce overcrowding in their jails, after a wave of inmates were transferred there from state prisons. Riverside and Orange County reportedly use split sentencing in more than 50 percent of cases.
New numbers from the Los Angeles District Attorney's office shows in September, 14 percent of cases resulted in split sentences. That's up from 3 percent in June, when District Attorney Jackie Lacey first issued a directive ordering prosecutors to give split sentences when appropriate.
Lynne Lyman from the Drug Policy Alliance and the Los Angeles Re-entry Partnership praised Lacey's efforts.
"You need that buy-in from the top, and then you need that buy-in to be integrated into the organization through training, and that’s why we’ve seen this turn around in the numbers," she said.
Lyman expects those numbers will keep going up.
State law mandates split sentencing become the presumptive punishment for low-level felons starting in January. That means each low-level felon who is eligible for a split sentence will get one unless a judge states a reason for denying it on the record.