How to fix our broken criminal justice system
Good morning! I am happy to be here today. Most people have no idea what an Inspector General does, and that's OK. Usually I get mistaken for the Attorney General, and I explain, in California, we don't look anything alike. (Laughter) But as the Inspector General, part of my job is overseeing programs within the Department of Corrections. I had a unique path in getting to this place. I started my career in criminal justice 33 years ago as an officer, worked as an officer in basically every capacity before going to law school and becoming a prosecutor. And for 17 years, as a Deputy District Attorney in a very conservative county, I was instrumental in a lot of people going to prison. But I didn't have to be real smart to figure out, after a while, when I was prosecuting the same person who went to prison, got out, reoffended, went to prison, got out, reoffended, that our system was broke, and I was part of that broken system. So when I had an opportunity in 2005 to join th...