Alumnus wins Pulitzer Prize for editorials chronicling criminal justice reform

By the end of the 20th century, with its three-strikes law and notoriously bad prison conditions, California had built a reputation as being “tough on crime,” according to Los Angeles Times editorial writer Robert Greene. But that standing came with a steep price as, among other effects, overcrowding in prisons landed the state in deep financial and constitutional trouble.

Fortunately, Greene says, recent reforms and public advocacy have moved the state away from a justice system favoring punishment to one that is more multifaceted.

Greene, who graduated in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in English from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, has almost certainly contributed to that reform. He has covered the state’s legal system for three decades, pointing out its shortcoming and lauding its progress. This year, his work gained its own exceptional notice, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.

From lawyer to journalist

A native Angeleno, Greene grew up in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Woodland Hills and attended El Camino Real High School. From there, he enrolled at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, where he decided to major in English based on his love of literature. But in the course of his studies, Greene found himself enjoying nonfiction works as much as fiction.

“I assumed that fiction was the more interesting stuff to read, and yet the classes that I took in addition to fiction required reading a lot of essays. I was really taken aback at some of the essays that I read and how well the authors used language,” he says.

After earning his degree in 1981, Greene enrolled in law school at Georgetown University and upon earning his law degree, returned to L.A. to work as an attorney. But the work wasn’t exciting, Greene says, so he jumped at the opportunity to exercise those nonfiction skills he’d developed as a USC Dornsife undergrad through a position at the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, a legal newspaper located across the street from the Los Angeles Times.

Greene worked at that paper for 11 years, writing about crime and the courts and the legal system daily. He credits that paper with teaching him how to become a journalist and getting him interested in criminal justice issues.

After a couple of years writing for the LA Weekly, Greene moved to the Times in 2006. He started out writing about state government in Sacramento, particularly the state’s financial and governance problems. After taking an extended medical leave for illness in 2010, he returned to the Times.

“California had just adopted a law to change the way we imprison people convicted of crimes — how we divvy people up between county jails and state prisons — and I was interested in that. That’s when I began writing about the criminal justice system at the Times,” he recalls.

Living in interesting times

Some of the editorials that won Greene the Pulitzer had to do with the way COVID-19 was being handled in prisons. Others addressed the criminal justice system as a whole: the legacy of the “war on drugs,” the bail system, and sentencing for juveniles. While many addressed problems that still need solutions, Greene points to signs of progress in some areas of social justice reform.

“We’re finding out more things, like how people who are in county jail have the right to vote, but they often don’t realize it. And the folks who run the jail, the Sheriff’s department, really didn’t do much to permit them to vote,” he says. “Now, because there’s more attention, the Sheriff’s department does a much better job of granting people their constitutional rights to vote.”

Greene also notes that L.A. in particular is looking at alternative ways to address other needs, such as diversion from the court system for people who have underlying mental health problems and providing alternatives to policing for people who have come to the police’s attention but not committed any crimes.

“We are looking at programs where people who are homeless or have mental health problems or substance abuse problems could be addressed by other officials, whether they’re government officials, peers, or private or nonprofit workers who are specialists in mental health or substance use disorder. In Los Angeles, we haven’t really gotten beyond the small-scale phase, but there are plans to do so, and those are worth watching,” he says.

One nationwide effort that Greene is excited about is the introduction of a toll-free telephone number, 988, for mental health crises. It will work similar to the 911 emergency services number. All phone carriers are required to implement 988 by July 2022.

The 988 line will allow people to call if they are experiencing a mental health emergency without involving the police, says Greene.

“If you see somebody whose behavior you’re concerned about but who you don’t think is committing a crime, you can call there. You can call if you are feeling suicidal or just depressed, or you just need someone to talk to. It will be an opportunity for a whole new approach to health, but also to justice.”