CALIFORNIA — Golden State voters will likely get a shot this November to decide — again — how much punishment should be imposed on people convicted of certain nonviolent crimes, like theft and drug possession.
A proposed measure, the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,” would essentially gut Proposition 47. The proposition was passed by California voters in 2014 and has “dramatically” increased crime across the state, critics argue.
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Prop. 47 shifted some theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. Thefts below $950, for example, are now considered misdemeanors.
The law achieved notable success in making California’s criminal justice system more equitable, but it led to “unintended consequences over the past decade,” according to Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
Hestrin is a key backer of the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,” a proposal conceived by the California District Attorney’s Association. Hestrin is the group’s current president.
The measure would make it easier to charge repeat theft offenders with felony crimes, increase penalties for organized retail theft rings, and stiffen punishment for hard drugs.
The D.A.’s push is helped by a surge in recent media coverage about addiction, homelessness and baseball-wielding masked bandits smashing up retail counters.
There is a shifting tenor about California criminal justice. In 2022, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was ousted in a recall election two years into his tenure after running on a reform platform.
Similarly, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, widely considered the nation’s most progressive D.A., faced multiple recall efforts and is now fighting for reelection after squeaking through the primary election against a historic 11 challengers.
This week, Robert F. Kennedy’s children endorsed Gascón’s Republican challenger, noting it was the first time they had ever opposed a Democratic candidate. The move, said Rory and Max Kennedy, stems from Gascón’s policy barring prosecutors from attending parole hearings for lifer inmates such as their father’s assassin, Sirhan Sirhan.
A California State Auditor report is scheduled to be released this summer on the effects of Prop. 47 over the last 10 years in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The audit’s scope will include, but is not limited to, crime data for the period before and after Prop. 47’s passage. The audit will also assess recidivism rates before and after Prop. 47 took effect.
A KQED investigation found no major increase in reported shoplifting or overall theft in California since Prop. 47’s passage. Crime, however, appeared underreported, with a large drop in arrest rates for theft over the past decade, according to the news outlet.
Prop. 47 is supposed to focus on locking up violent, serious offenders like rapists, murderers, and child molestators. Under the law, prison alternatives are mandated for certain nonviolent offenders.
Opponents like Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco argue the law keeps too many offenders out of custody. Californians “must stand up” to repeal it, he said this week.
California has saved about $800 million by keeping people out of prison over the last 10 years, according to KQED reporting. The savings are intended for prevention and support programs in K-12 schools, victim services, and mental health and drug treatment.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office determined the proposed ballot measure would result in California spending hundreds of millions of dollars more each year on state prison incarcerations, while counties would spend tens of millions of dollars annually on jails, probation and court hearings.
The “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act” is now moving through the state’s Elections Code process. On Thursday, the Californians for Safer Communities Coalition announced it is submitting over 900,000 voter signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.
National retailers like Home Depot, Walgreens and Walmart are invested in the California showdown.
Walgreens “supports the various external efforts of policymakers and advocacy groups, including proposed ballot measures, legislation and funding that will help foster a safer environment in the communities we serve,” the retailer said in a statement to CNN.
Walmart, which has contributed financially to get the measure on the California ballot, said in a statement, “The Homeless, Drug Addiction, Retail Theft Reduction Act is a balanced community safety approach with effective tools to allow judges to use their discretion to hold individuals accountable for repeated retail theft offenses. We believe these tools are what is needed to help communities enforce the law and improve safety for all.”
A very small handful of Democrats are championing the proposal, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
“This is not a party issue. I don’t see this as a partisan issue. This is about keeping people safe,” Breed said.
Other Democratic lawmakers are instead pushing forward on legislation they say would solve problems critics have with Prop. 47 while avoiding a costly ballot measure.
Tinisch Hollins is executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, the group that sponsored Prop. 47 all those years ago. She supports lawmakers’ efforts to improve existing state law but argues the “Homeless, Drug Addiction, Retail Theft Reduction Act” embraces failed policies.
“We’ve tried tough on crime, right? … We have decades of proof that that doesn’t work,” she told KQED. “The issue of organized retail theft is much too nuanced to just throw a blanket repeal for a proposition — not to mention the cost to the state and our communities if we go back to just criminalizing everyone and putting them in jail and prison for low-level offenses. It’s just the wrong approach.”
—Patch Editors Toni McAllister and Paige Austin contributed to this report.
