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| California Democrats Try to Preserve Disastrous Proposition 47 |
| 2024-03-23 |
| [Breitbart] California Democrats are trying to preserve Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure that eased penalties for theft and which is blamed today by many critics for a crime wave targeting retail stores in the state’s major cities. Proposition 47 was sold to the public as “criminal justice reform,” but it did little to improve the state’s programs to rehabilitate criminals. Instead, it just changed some felonies to misdemeanors, including thefts under $950. That, many Californians believe, created a strong incentive for criminal to commit petty theft, especially at retail stores, knowing that prosecutors would be unlikely to pursue charges or that any penalties would be minimal. Earlier this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) introduced a set of reforms aimed at reducing property crimes, but left Proposition 47 intact. Other legislators proposed reforms to Proposition 47, or suggested it simply be repealed. However, as the Associated Press reports, most (not all) California Democrats — at Newsom’s direction — are defending Proposition 47, and attempting to focus their legislative efforts on other policy changes: Following Newsom’s directions, Democratic leaders in both chambers at the Capitol also have shut down calls to repeal the measure [Proposition 47]. Last month, the state’s new Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, with bipartisan support, introduced a package of legislation that would target auto thefts and large-scale resell schemes and expand diversion programs such as drug courts and treatment services. Online marketplaces also would be required to crack down on users reselling stolen goods on their platforms under the proposal. Earlier this year, Newsom expressed shock when a clerk at a Target store blamed him for the shoplifting problem. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #7 ...so killers walk. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-03-23 17:21 |
| #6 At one time at the beginning of this century, I was a staff participant in drafting criminal justice policy for the State of California. Central to the political context of the discussions was the factor of "disproportionate minority representation" in various statistics dealing with apprehensions, convictions incarceration and investigations. In simplistic terms, it was argued that either minorities committed a disproportionate level of crime, or that the system was inherently biased. The facts were incontrovertible, but one of the two answers was unacceptable. From this unwillingness to face reality everything has flowed. Obviously, there are many more factors about poverty, enforcement concentration, family structure, education, that are involved. But the cowardice in refusing to assign significant blame to the predilection of a large percentage of male, minority youth to criminal behavior rests with the political left across the spectrum of governance in America! The subsequent pandering and outright manipulation for political gain by Obama and Biden has accelerated, not moderated, this cancerous behavior! |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2024-03-23 13:58 |
| #5 IIRC, one of the arguments in favor of Prop. 47 was that California prisons are overcrowded and it's too expensive to build more. But maybe we should just think of the new prisons as "affordable housing". |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2024-03-23 13:30 |
| #4 How did the Correction Officer’s Union let that one get passed? |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2024-03-23 12:25 |
| #3 "Justice reform" is the idea that people are criminals because they are treated like criminals. No. They are criminals because they act like criminals. They made that choice, not all the rest of us. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2024-03-23 11:48 |
| #2 Californians did vote for this. So no sympathy. You get what you want. And apparently you Californians want this. So enjoy! |
| Posted by: Tom 2024-03-23 11:41 |
| #1 It's professional courtesy. Thieves protecting other thieves. They got a whiff of that in New Mexico and changed the law to treat 'accumulative' total rather than a one time event. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-03-23 11:08 |