An initiative that would roll back aspects of Proposition 47, an oft maligned, decade-old law aimed at reducing incarceration rates for nonviolent offenses, looks to be headed to November’s ballot after collecting more than 900,000 signatures.
Known as “The Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,” the proposed law would increase penalties for certain drug and theft crimes, as well as create a new court process — treatment-mandated felonies — for certain drug possession crimes.
The collected signatures, well over the required number of 546,651, were turned in Thursday but still need to be verified before the initiative can qualify for the ballot.
Proposition 47, a sweeping referendum approved by 59 percent of California voters in 2014, reclassified most nonviolent crimes involving property or drugs from felonies to misdemeanors.
Proponents have long argued the law reduced prison populations, recidivism and racial disparities in arrests, all while having no impact on violent crime and only minimal impact on property crimes.
But critics have contended the proposition has fueled a surge of lawlessness, with law enforcement officials repeatedly lamenting how difficult it is to hold shoplifters able under the law. Weaker penalties for low-level drug crimes, they say, have contributed to an increase in fentanyl deaths and homelessness and has negatively impacted participation in some diversion programs, such as drug court.
The new initiative, backed by donors including Walmart and Home Depot, is being billed as a fix for those supposed issues. It’s ed by District Attorney Summer Stephan, 14 of San Diego County’s 18 mayors, and more than a dozen other elected officials across the state.
Separate measures to address challenges like retail theft have been proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other legislators. But on Thursday, Stephan said voters should have the opportunity to weigh in on the issue come November.
“This is a balanced, commonsense initiative that addresses the fentanyl crisis by going after drug dealers who are killing our loved ones and imposes stronger penalties for repeat offenders of organized retail theft, which is hurting far too many families and local businesses,” she said in a statement. “We need responsible reform that allows judges to incentivize life-saving treatment for those struggling with severe addiction, holds repeat offenders able but also gives first, second, and even third chances for those who commit theft or possess hard drugs to be treated for addiction or mental illness.”
If it es, the law would allow for stronger penalties against those engaged in the trafficking of hard drugs and for repeat offenders of retail theft. It would still give first and second chances to those who commit theft and possess hard drugs. However, a third conviction could result in a felony, even if a theft crime involves an amount worth $950 or less.
The initiative would also create treatment-mandated felonies. If a person with two or more prior drug convictions is found possessing certain drugs, including fentanyl, that person could be charged with this new class of felony, rather than a misdemeanor. Those who complete treatment would have charges against them dismissed. Those who aren’t successful in treatment could be required to serve three years in state prison.
Under the law, multiple thefts could be aggregated to reach the $950 threshold prosecutors need to charge a felony theft, and fentanyl drug dealers whose actions lead to overdose deaths would face harsher penalties.
The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates the initiative could increase the state’s criminal justice system costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, and local criminal justice system costs by tens of millions of dollars. If the measure’s penalties reduce crime, some of these costs could be avoided, the office said.
On Thursday, ers of Proposition 47 criticized the initiative, painting it as a return to 1990s-era strategies that fueled historic prison overpopulating.
“When 93 percent of reported property crimes don’t result in an arrest, increasing penalties for the few who are caught — at the expense of services we know reduce crime — is a disinformation train wreck that will jeopardize public health and safety across California,” said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice.
The Sacramento-based nonprofit co-authored Proposition 47 and has often challenged claims that the law is to blame for the state’s challenges with retail theft, fentanyl deaths and homelessness. It has also defended its merits, like funding programming that improved recidivism rates.
