There was a time, four-plus decades ago, when crime was California’s most powerful political issue. New laws and tougher attitudes by prosecutors and judges — including the three-strikes law passed in 1994 — put tens of thousands of offenders behind bars.
But a decade ago and with voter support, legislators began modifying or even repealing the tough sentencing laws of the anti-crime heyday, citing mass incarceration for relatively minor crimes. The inmate population is now half of what it once was, and prisons are being closed.
What’s next?
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Now, however, the state is experiencing a spate of property crimes such as shoplifting, car burglaries and smash-and-grabs, as well as certain violent crimes. Unsurprisingly, crime is once again a potent political issue.
Retailers, law enforcement groups and local government officials, angered that the Legislature seemed to ignore their pleas, qualified a ballot measure, Proposition 36, that would boost punishments for some crimes, partially repealing Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot initiative that reduced certain penalties.
Prop. 36 — supported by Republicans and law enforcement but opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and most Democrats — may be the most contentious on the ballot.
Here’s what you need to know about Prop. 36:
What would it do?
The measure would reclassify some misdemeanor theft and drug crimes as felonies.
The measure also would create a new category of crime — a “treatment-mandated felony.” People who don’t contest the charges could complete drug treatment instead of going to prison, but if they don’t finish treatment, they still face up to three years in prison.
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Why is it on the ballot?
Ten years ago, voters approved Proposition 47, which sought to reduce California’s prison overcrowding by making some theft and drug crimes misdemeanors. Since then, prosecutors, police and big box retailers have blamed the law for an increase in property crimes and homelessness. Prop. 36 is their attempt to unwind Prop. 47.
During the pandemic, shoplifting and commercial burglaries skyrocketed, especially in Los Angeles, Alameda, San Mateo and Sacramento counties. Statewide, the Public Policy Institute of California found that reported shoplifting of merchandise worth up to $950 soared 28% over the past five years. That’s the highest observed level since 2000.
Combining shoplifting with commercial burglaries, the institute’s researchers found that total reported thefts were 18% higher than in 2019.
Proponents
Supporters pitch Prop. 36 as a way to combat homelessness, which is up by more than 50% since Prop. 47 passed. The reason, supporters say, is that drug dependence pushes people to the street, and increasing the penalties for drug possession is the only way to force people into treatment.
Proponents also say Prop. 36 is a good middle ground between California’s tough-on-crime days, which pushed prison capacity past its breaking point, and the last decade under Prop. 47, which they have say created “loopholes in state law that criminals exploit to avoid accountability for fentanyl trafficking and repeat retail theft.”
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Opponents
Those opposed to the measure say that no studies on criminal justice or homelessness support the idea that harsher punishment — or the threat of harsher punishment — prevents crime or gets people off the street.
Prop. 36 will expend hundreds of millions of dollars in court and prison costs, they say, without measurably reducing crime or poverty. In the meantime, schools, health care and other essential services will go wanting.
The measure’s opponents argue Prop. 36 would mark a return to the War on Drugs, which they said California voters rejected a decade ago with Prop. 47.
Funders
A total of $16.4 million has been invested in Prop. 36, with $13.6 million in support of the ballot measure and $2.86 million raised to fight it.
More information
Additional information about California’s other propositions can be found here.
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