The Second Chance Sports Act Is Now Law in California: Will Weightlifting Soon Return?

A new California law will lead to the expansion of organized sports programming as a form of rehabilitation for people incarcerated in state prisons.

The Second Chance Sports Act (AB 2204), authored by Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel and Isaac Bryan, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month and takes effect on January 1, 2027. It will allow the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to work with professional sports teams and leagues, the University of California and California State University systems, community colleges and private universities to expand sports programming in prisons.

“Structured sports programs can help build discipline, teamwork, and accountability,” said Assemblymember Gabriel. “It can potentially reduce disciplinary problems and recidivism and promote rehabilitation.” He went on to explain that those improvements would thereby support correctional staff, as well.

Assemblymember Bryan believes the new law will help reduce violence inside prisons and crime after people return to their communities: “Anyone who has played a team sport understands the positive impacts it can have on a person. It can reduce depression and anxiety and promote positive social interactions.”

Weightlifting used to be a staple of California prisons. Like many sports, studies show that weightlifting promotes health by reducing stress and violence, strengthening the heart and cardiovascular system and lowering risks of heart attack and stroke. It also boosts metabolism, helping to lower weight and control diabetes and other chronic ailments and can sharpen cognitive skills. During the 1970s, body building champions Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger toured California prisons and youth facilities to promote the sport as a way for incarcerated people to cope with prisons and find purpose.

All of that came to an end in the mid-1990’s when the myth of the Superpredator, created by criminologist John DiIulio, began taking hold in the media and in public consciousness. It characterized a generation of young Black and brown men as unusually violent and remorseless. The myth led to devastating changes in criminal justice policy, including the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law, both passed in 1994.

By August of the same year, the California Senate passed Senate Bill 22, which aimed to remove weight training programs from the state’s prisons. Senator Steve Peace, one of the bill’s authors said, “Allowing prisoners to become body builders could create human weapons who might eventually harm police after release.” CDCR officially banned weightlifting programs in prison in 1998.

Weightlifting was not the only victim; the super predator myth led to a reduction of athletic programs throughout prisons, which contributed to a rising prison health care crisis that continues today.

When Schwarzenegger became Governor in 2004, he suggested bringing weightlifting back. “As you know, in the 1970s I used to go around and visit all the prisons and youth facilities in California to promote weight training for inmates,” he told the media. “But I don’t want to put them back if people don’t want them back, if that is not what people want.” The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) and crime victims were against it, so the Governor backed down.

Today, the CCPOA was one of the biggest supporters of AB 2204 According to CCPOA President Neil Flood, “California’s correctional officers see firsthand the difference that meaningful programming makes for the people in our facilities and for the safety of our communities. When incarcerated people have opportunities to develop discipline, self-esteem and teamwork, everyone benefits,” he said in an August 31, 2026 letter to the legislature.

Even the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) endorsed the bill. “This bill is about promoting what works to make communities safer. Structured sports can build discipline and skills and help reduce reoffending,” said CPCA President Sean Thuilliez.

Over the years, California has eased up on weightlifting bans, making exceptions for certain therapeutic, rehabilitative, and vocational circumstances. Weight training equipment, for example, is part of the training program for incarcerated people assigned to firefighting. Today, at least 31 states across the country, including New York, New Jersey, and Colorado, allow weightlifting in prisons.

Enhancing sports in prison by bringing back weightlifting could potentially reverse other harms caused by mass warehousing and the prison system’s broken health care system, marking a definitive end to an era of racist labeling of incarcerated Black and brown men.

Crime rates are down in California and recidivism rates are lower. The prison population has dipped below 90,000 for the first time in decades and is projected to drop further. And California is now on a trajectory to humanize its prisons.

The Second Chance Sports Act, with its rehabilitative mission, could eventually give everyone a second chance. Incarcerated individuals could improve their health, strengthening their bones and their hearts. Some could even get a second chance at freedom, participating with major league teams or becoming personal trainers. Politicians, including those who once believed in the myth of the superpredator, could also get a second chance to correct some of the harms from their racist past. They have paved the way to bring all sports programming back, including weight training, and to build community and camaraderie and support a healthier and more humane California prison system.