An appellate court has upheld a voter-approved ballot measure that diverts funds from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to social service and jail diversion programs.
Measure J, requires that 10% of locally generated, unrestricted L.A. County money — estimated between $360 million and $900 million — be spent on social services, including housing, mental health treatment and other jail diversion programs. The county is prohibited from spending the money on the carceral system — prisons, jails or law enforcement agencies.
The passage of the measure in 2020 led voters to overwhelmingly elect the measure’s co-chair to elected office.
Measure J
— Isaac G. Bryan (@ib2_real) July 29, 2023
Isaac Bryan, who at the time led the UCLA Black Policy Project, was elected to the then Assembly District 54 (now AD 55) seat which was previously held by Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.
Bryan has now ascended to a leadership position in the State Assembly being appointed its Majority Leader by Speaker Robert Rivas.
Bryan hasn’t released an official statement on the ruling but has used his personal social media account to laud the victory.
The measure’s constitutionality (legality) was challenged by a coalition of community members, led by the union that represents Sheriff’s deputies. The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) spent more than $3.5 million on advertising on TV and social media to fight Measure J.
The appellate court’s ruling overturned a lower court’s ruling from 2021.
Read the full article on the appellate court’s ruling here.
