California Proposition 47 (2014)

Last updated
Proposition 47
Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute, also called The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act on the ballot information guide.
Location California
DateNovember 4, 2014 (2014-11-04)
Results
Votes%
Yes check.svgYes4,238,15659.61%
X mark.svgNo2,871,94340.39%
Valid votes7,110,09994.63%
Invalid or blank votes403,8735.37%
Total votes7,513,972100.00%
Source: California Secretary of State [1]

Proposition 47, also known by its ballot title Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute, (originally titled The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act by California Attorney General Kamala Harris) was a referendum passed by voters in the state of California on November 4, 2014. The measure was also referred to by its supporters as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. [2] It recategorized some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors, rather than felonies, as they had previously been categorized. The proposition would have expired on November 4, 2017, though governor Jerry Brown approved a bill that extended the deadline to November 4, 2022. [3]

Kamala Harris United States Senator from California

Kamala Devi Harris is an American attorney and politician who has served as the junior United States Senator from California since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 32nd Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017, and as the 27th District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011. On January 21, 2019, she officially announced her campaign to run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election.

California State of the United States of America

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

In public policy, a sunset provision or clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law. Most laws do not have sunset clauses and therefore remain in force indefinitely, except under systems in which desuetude applies.

Contents

Effects

The measure's main effects were to convert many nonviolent offenses, such as drug and property offenses, from felonies to misdemeanors. These offenses include shoplifting, writing bad checks, and drug possession. The measure also required that money saved as a result of the measure would be spent on "school truancy and dropout prevention, victim services, mental health, and drug abuse treatment, and other programs designed to keep offenders out of prison and jail." [4] The measure included exceptions for offenses involving more than $950 and criminals with records including violence or sex offenses. [5] For example, forgery had previously been a "wobbler" offense that could be charged by the prosecutor as a misdemeanor or a felony. Now with the passage of Proposition 47, prosecutors cannot charge a forgery involving less than $950 as a felony unless the defendant has a criminal record. [6]

The measure both affects future convictions and allows for people currently incarcerated for crimes covered by the measure to petition for re-sentencing. [7]

In November 2015, a report by the Stanford University Justice Advocacy Project authored by the co-author of Proposition 47, found that Proposition 47 had reduced the state's prison population by 13,000 and that it would save the state about $150 million that year. [8]

Stanford University private research university located in Stanford, California, United States

Leland Stanford Junior University is an American private research university in Stanford, California. Stanford is known for its academic strength, wealth, proximity to Silicon Valley, and ranking as one of the world's top universities.

A 2018 study maintains that Prop 47 was not a “driver” for recent upticks in crime. [9]

Support

The measure was endorsed by the editorial board of the New York Times , which praised it as a way to reduce overcrowding in the state's prisons. [10] It was also endorsed by the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times , which wrote that the measure was a "good and timely measure that can help the state make smarter use of its criminal justice and incarceration resources." [11] The American Civil Liberties Union also supported the measure and donated $3.5 million to support it. [12]

<i>Los Angeles Times</i> Daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper which has been published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It has the fourth-largest circulation among United States newspapers, and is the largest U.S. newspaper not headquartered on the East Coast. The paper is known for its coverage of issues particularly salient to the U.S. West Coast, such as immigration trends and natural disasters. It has won more than 40 Pulitzer Prizes for its coverage of these and other issues. As of June 18, 2018, ownership of the paper is controlled by Patrick Soon-Shiong, and the executive editor is Norman Pearlstine.

American Civil Liberties Union Legal advocacy organization

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." Officially nonpartisan, the organization has been supported and criticized by liberal and conservative organizations alike. The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and it has over 1,200,000 members and an annual budget of over $100 million. Local affiliates of the ACLU are active in almost all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases when it considers civil liberties to be at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.

Prominent individual supporters included Jay-Z and Newt Gingrich. [13]

Opposition

Opponents of the measure include Mark A. Peterson, the District Attorney of Contra Costa County, who wrote before its passage that the measure "would make our neighborhoods and schools less safe". [14] It was also criticized by Nancy O'Malley, the District Attorney of Alameda County, who said it would "expose Californians to significant harm" and called it a "Trojan horse". [15]

Among the most prominent arguments made against the law was that possession of the date-rape drug Rohypnol would, under the law, be punished as a misdemeanor rather than a felony, which critics described as a "slap on the wrist". [16] Critics also argued that not being able to use incarceration to force drug users into treatment would make it more difficult for drug users to enter into a treatment program. [17]

Impact on crime rates

As of 2014, the outcome of the measure was still uncertain with respect to future crime rates, but Hayley Munguia of FiveThirtyEight has argued that in three of other four states—Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, and Texas—that passed similar laws, crime rates decreased afterward. [18] It also remains uncertain whether the measure will actually keep people out of prison, though the Legislative Analyst's Office has concluded that it will decrease the state's prison population by "several thousand" inmates. [18] It has been estimated that the measure will affect about 40,000 felony convictions per year, which would be reduced from felonies to misdemeanors, representing about one-fifth of annual convictions in California. [5] The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has estimated that under the measure, almost 4,800 state prisoners are eligible to petition for resentencing. [19]

Several commentators contrasted Proposition 47 with the three-strikes law that had been passed in California two decades earlier. [20] [21] Before the initiative passed, political science professor Thad Kousser said that it "would officially end California's tough-on-crime era" if it was passed. [21]

In 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported that "law enforcement officials and others have blamed Proposition 47 for allowing repeat offenders...to continue breaking the law with little consequence." [22] Also that year, a spokesman for George Gascón, the district attorney of San Francisco, said that the law "has made it easier for drug offenders to avoid mandated treatment programs." The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, has also suggested that the law may explain why his city's crime rates went from decreasing to increasing. [23] In a 2015 story in the Washington Post , the police chief of San Diego, Shelley Zimmerman, described Proposition 47 as "a virtual get-out-of-jail-free card." She and other police chiefs also expressed concern about the increasing phenomenon of "frequent flier" criminals–people who exploit Proposition 47 to commit crimes. For example, one criminal allegedly brought a calculator into a store to avoid stealing more than $950 worth of goods. [24] The ACLU responded by releasing a report saying that those who linked Proposition 47 and crime were "making irresponsible and inaccurate statements." [25]

The director of the Stanford Justice Advocacy Project and co-author of Proposition 47, Michael Morano, said in November 2015 that, with respect to Proposition 47, "In the long term, this reallocation of resources should significantly improve public safety". Mr. Morano authored a study supporting his conclusion. [8]

A March 2016 report released by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice concluded that it was still too early to determine whether Proposition 47 had an effect on California's crime rates. [26]

Related Research Articles

The term felony, in some common law countries, is defined as a serious crime. The word originates from English common law, where felonies were originally crimes involving confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods. Other crimes were called misdemeanors. Many common law countries have now abolished the felony/misdemeanor distinction and replaced it with other distinctions, such as between indictable offences and summary offences. A felony is generally considered a crime of high seriousness, but a misdemeanor is not.

A misdemeanor is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences. Many misdemeanors are punished with monetary fines.

Andrew Stuart Luster is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor, Sr., and heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune. In 2003 he was convicted of multiple sexual assaults using the date-rape drug GHB.

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California Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, was an initiative statute that permanently changed state law to allow qualifying defendants convicted of non-violent drug possession offenses to receive a probationary sentence in lieu of incarceration. As a condition of probation defendants are required to participate in and complete a licensed and/or certified community drug treatment program. If the defendant fails to complete this program or violates any other term or condition of their probation, then probation can be revoked and the defendant may be required to serve an additional sentence which may include incarceration. The proposition was passed with 6,233,422 (60.86%) votes in favor and 4,009,508 (39.14%) against on November 7, 2000 and went into effect on July 1, 2001 with $120 million for treatment services allocated annually for five years. The act is codified in sections 1210 and 3063.1 of the California Penal Code and Division 10.8 of the California Health and Safety Code.

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References

  1. ↑ "Statement of Vote, November 4, 2014 General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ "California Proposition 47, Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative (2014)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ Rokos, Brian (September 29, 2016). "New law gives felons more time to get record changed under Prop. 47". The Press Enterprise. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute". California Secretary of State. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  5. 1 2 St. John, Paige (October 11, 2014). "Prop. 47 would cut penalties for 1 in 5 criminals in California". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Text of Proposition 47" (PDF). Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  7. ↑ Pishko, Jessica (October 29, 2014). "Can Proposition 47 Solve California's Problem With Mass Incarceration?". Pacific Standard. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Parker, Clifton (November 2, 2015). "California's early release of prisoners proving effective so far, Stanford experts say". Stanford University. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ https://news.uci.edu/2018/03/07/proposition-47-not-responsible-for-recent-upticks-in-crime-across-california-uci-study-says/
  10. ↑ Editorial Board (October 30, 2014). "California Leads on Justice Reform". New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  11. ↑ Times Editorial Board (October 6, 2014). "Endorsement: Yes on Proposition 47". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  12. ↑ El Nasser, Haya (November 14, 2014). "'Walking out of jail': Prop 47 frees felons with downgraded charges". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  13. ↑ Ford, Matt (November 5, 2014). "Californians Vote to Weaken Mass Incarceration". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  14. ↑ Peterson, Mark (October 31, 2014). "Guest commentary: Prop. 47 will make our neighborhoods less safe". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  15. ↑ O'Malley, Nancy (September 19, 2014). "Vote No on Prop. 47: Measure ends effective crime intervention". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  16. ↑ Greene, Robert (October 29, 2014). "What does California's Proposition 47 have to do with date rape?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  17. ↑ Editorial Board (November 10, 2014). "Prediction: California crime wave coming". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  18. 1 2 Vara, Vauhini (November 7, 2014). "Will California Again Lead the Way on Prison Reform?". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  19. ↑ Kurhi, Eric (November 11, 2014). "Santa Clara County hears first crop of post-Proposition 47 crime-reduction petitions". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  20. ↑ Mcevers, Kelly (October 21, 2014). "California Proposition Re-evaluates Approach To Crime". NPR. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  21. 1 2 Chokshi, Niraj (October 31, 2014). "California voters seem ready to end the state's 'tough on crime' era". Washington Post. Retrieved November 16, 2014.
  22. ↑ Chang, Cindy (November 6, 2015). "Unintended consequences of Prop. 47 pose challenge for criminal justice system". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  23. ↑ Saunders, Debra (August 16, 2015). "In the Wake of Proposition 47, California Sees a Crime Wave". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  24. ↑ Saslow, Eli (October 10, 2015). "In California, Prop 47 has turned into a 'virtual get-out-of-jail-free card'". Washington Post. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  25. ↑ Poston, Ben (November 10, 2015). "ACLU faults California law enforcement response to Prop. 47". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  26. ↑ Males, Mike (March 15, 2016). "New Report! Is Proposition 47 to Blame for California's 2015 Increase in Urban Crime?". Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice . Retrieved May 11, 2017.
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