California savors the unintended consequences of reducing penalties for theft
Posted by Leslie Eastman Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 4:00pm
Astute Legal Insurrection readers may recall that in 2014, nearly 60% of California voters approved Proposition 47—ironically known as the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.†The measure reduced the classification of most nonviolent property and drug crimes—including theft and fraud for amounts up to $950—from a felony to a misdemeanor.
It was a feel-good solution to address the over-crowding in the prisons related to California’s 3-strikes law. A couple years after its passage, police in San Jose were dealing with a surge in violent crime; however, Proposition 47 supporters were unmoved.
Tom Hoffman, one of the architects of Proposition 47, which downgraded felony classifications for a series of drug possession and petty theft crimes, sympathizes with police agencies. But the former West Sacramento deputy police chief who oversaw state parole in the late 2000s asserts that incarceration can no longer be a reflexive penalty.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/09/california-savors-the-unintended-consequences-of-reducing-penalties-for-theft/