Season 1, Episode 2

 America, fast forward

More than any other state, California is obsessed with ballot initiatives — for better, and sometimes worse.

This episode tells the story of one of the state’s most notorious initiatives, the Three Strikes proposition, as well as the campaigns to reform and repeal it — all of which were fought with ballot initiatives. We also explore the history of initiatives in California and why the state has, in the words of one expert, “gone crazy for propositions.”

In this Episode

Susan Champion, deputy director of the Three Strikes Project at Stanford Law School. Originally from Oregon, she began her career as a theater actress before going to law school. She was part of the Proposition 36 campaign to reform Three Strikes in 2012. 

Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California and author of State of Resistance: What California's Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America's Future. His research focuses on issues of the economic, environmental and social conditions facing low-income urban communities – and the social movements seeking to change those realities.

Zakiya Prince, executive director of Repeal, Reunite, Reinvest California. She has been a fierce advocate for her husband, who was sentenced to 35 years to life under California’s Three Strikes law, and for many others who are directly impacted by the carceral system. She is a graduate of California State University, Northridge and has worked as an educator and social worker.