A new report from Berkeley Law’s Criminal Law & Justice Center (CLJC) analyzes the impact of prosecutor-initiated resentencing in Alameda County, finding that “thoughtful resentencing policies” can achieve multiple goals simultaneously: reducing state costs, addressing excessive sentences, and maintaining public safety through careful case-by-case evaluation.
“Measuring the Impact of Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing in Alameda County” examines 165 successful resentencings between October 2020 and January 2025 — spanning the administrations of District Attorney Nancy O’Malley and Pamela Price.
California law gives various law enforcement entities, including district attorneys, the power to refer individuals who have been sentenced for a criminal conviction back to court for resentencing. Under this law, credit must be given for time served, the new sentence cannot be longer than the original sentence, and pre- and post-conviction factors should be considered.
CLJC’s Resentencing Project, which works with prosecutors and public defenders around the country to review post-conviction cases, accessed Alameda County’s resentencing data through a public records request. The analysis finds that the new sentences saved the state between $42.6 million and $287.4 million annually; that the sentence reductions across all cases equaled 2,792 years of incarceration; and that the recidivism risk among the resentenced was extremely low, in part because a large number of individuals resentenced were over 50.
The report notes that resentencing is not a “progressive prosecutor” phenomenon, but is instead a pragmatic, evidence-based tool that can be used across the political spectrum with appropriate safeguards and careful case review in place.