The California Legislature this week is expected to approve a voter initiative for the November ballot aimed at cracking down on retail theft and fentanyl dealers, a move aimed at competing with tougher anti-crime measures advocated by a group of county district attorneys.
Details about the plan, which was developed after days of intense negotiations between Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and Democratic legislative leaders, were released in a bill released late Sunday.
The measure would realign the controversial criminal justice reform California voters approved a decade ago, known as Proposition 47, which changed certain lower-level drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and invest in drug and property crimes. Mental health treatment.
The move would represent an abrupt political reversal for Newsom, who said earlier this year that he opposed amending Proposition 47 through the ballot measure process and insisted that necessary reforms could be enacted through legislation.
The measure comes weeks after a crime initiative by a group of county district attorneys eligible for the November ballot. Newsom criticized the prosecutor-led plan as a throwback that could return California to the era of mass incarceration in the 1990s.
The latest ballot measure would address repeat shoplifting, with a third shoplifting-related offense punishable by three years in prison within three years. In cases involving multiple thefts, if the total amount stolen exceeds $950, this may be a felony.
The proposal would also create tougher penalties for dealers who knowingly mix drugs with fentanyl without the knowledge of buyers. Under the measure, judges would also be required to issue warnings to convicted fentanyl dealers about the fatal risks associated with distributing the drug, which would make it easier for prosecutors to charge dealers with murder if a death occurs. The initiative would also increase resources for drug treatment and mental health programs.
If the measure is approved by the Democratic-led Legislature this week, as is expected, California voters will see two competing crime measures on the November ballot: one backed by the governor and a separate bill to reduce homelessness. The Return, Drug Addiction and Theft Act, which has strong support from some county district attorneys and anti-crime groups.
Prosecutors’ initiative would change the law to make third-time theft a felony, punishable by up to three years in prison, regardless of the value of the goods. The measure would also make possession of fentanyl a felony. Finally, the proposal would impose a “felonial mandatory treatment” upon a person’s third arrest for drug possession.
California voters approved Proposition 47 in 2014 at a time when past tough-on-crime policies were under attack as ineffective and unjust and courts deemed the state’s overcrowded prison system unconstitutional.
Before the measure passed, theft could be considered a felony if the value of the stolen merchandise was $450 or more, but Prop. 47 raised the threshold to $950. Critics have panned the change since it was enacted, saying the reduction in penalties has led to an increase in thefts in California. Newsom and other supporters of Proposition 47 say most other states, including Texas, have higher monetary thresholds for suspects to be charged with felonies than California.
Newsom and the Legislature plan to cut prison spending and move away from a criminal justice system that relies on incarceration. They argue that the prosecutor-led initiative could end up sending low-level drug and theft offenders back to state prisons instead of prison as they serve time for misdemeanor crimes, causing California’s prison population to swell.
The Legislature is also considering supplemental bill options now that would include giving store owners the opportunity to file for restraining orders against repeat offenders and giving prosecutors better tools to prosecute car break-ins and multiple thefts.
The newly proposed ballot measures were unveiled Sunday after weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions and contentious political maneuvering involving crime bills and ballot measures that intertwined in debates at the Capitol.
Most notably, Democrats unexpectedly inserted an amendment into the crime bill that would undo parts of the legislation if voters approve a prosecutor-backed ballot initiative — which previously had bipartisan support. The amendment was recently removed from the bill, but the criticism and distrust caused by this approach remains.
“This is a punch in the gut for supporters,” Yolo County said. Atty. Jeff Reisig is one of the prosecutors participating in the initiative.
Since then, members of the Republican and Democratic caucuses and leaders of prosecutor-led coalitions have sparred over the ongoing political game through separate livestreamed news conferences.
“Don’t play politics on public safety issues. It’s wrong to do so in the current environment,” said Greg Totten, executive director of the California District Attorneys Association. and supporters of prosecutor-led initiatives. “Frankly, we all came together to draft and finalize a ballot initiative because politicians in the Capitol ignored our concerns.”
The Democratic caucus has since reportedly split, with members removing their names from the bipartisan package for taking a hard-line approach.
