California has a problem with its prisons: they are bursting at the seams. And a big factor in that overcrowding is the parole system. Two thirds of all parolees released in California end up back behind bars -- often for minor infractions. Because of the packed system, a three-judge panel has ordered California to release 40 thousand inmates over the next two years. The state is grappling with how to comply with that new ruling -- its parole system is already overburdened. In Alameda county, seven thousand parolees are released into the community every year, and half of those ex-cons end up in Oakland.
Integrating those people back into society is tough: parolees face challenges in finding jobs, securing places to live, and dealing with restrictions placed on their behavior. As part of our on-going Fault Lines series looking at the roots and solutions to violence in Oakland, Sandhya Dirks reports on the challenges of living with a criminal record.
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