Decarceration and…? Local Policy Responses to State-Level Criminal Justice Reform

In response to the socioeconomic harms caused by hyperincarceration and public demands for reforms, efforts have emerged to reduce the number of people who are incarcerated in the United States. Criminal justice reforms are complex, requiring coordination across multiple levels of government and thousands of public and private actors. This paper investigates whether and how the design of such reforms generates feedback effects across governments by exploring how local policymakers in California responded to Public Safety Realignment. The study documents that cities with higher shares of arrestees increased their social policy expenditures post-Realignment, suggesting the policy's design may have contributed to substantive feedback effects between the state and local governments. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on the political status of justice-involved populations and the diffusion of policy priorities, indicating a potential shift toward a more holistic approach that considers the root causes of criminality.