[4][5] A self-described police and prison abolitionist, Hernandez was endorsed by progressive groups and leaders like City Councilman Mike Bonin and Dolores Huerta, and the Los Angeles Times.

[13] In 2018, she moved to JustLeadershipUSA as a campaign coordinator for JusticeLA where she pushed for a halt to a plan to build a new $3.5 million women's jail at the county's Mira Loma facility in Lancaster.

[12] In 2020, she co-founded La Defensa with Ivette Alé, a women-led organization that supports reducing the number of incarcerated people in Los Angeles County.

[12] That same year she co-chaired Measure J, a ballot initiative that would allocate at least 10% of Los Angeles County's funding for community reinvestment and incarceration alternatives.

Hernandez cited the $3.2 billion allocated to the LAPD as the motivation for her vote, giving a speech in which she said that "we are celebrating moving pennies around, while we put a quarter of our entire budget into just one department.

[21][22] In August 2023, Hernandez along with Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez voted against a four-year package of raises and bonuses for rank-and-file police officers.

Hernandez and Raman reeled off a list of services that they said are in need of more money — streetlights, sidewalk repairs, building inspections, alley resurfacing and other city operations.

[23] In 2024, Hernandez introduced a motion to suspend private construction of a $300 million 1.2 mile gondola lift connecting Union Station to Dodger Stadium.