California Proposition 6 (2008)

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California Proposition 6, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods Act and The Runner Initiative, is a statutory initiative that appeared on the November 2008 ballot in California. This proposition was rejected by voters on November 4 of that year.

Initiative means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote

In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote in parliament called an indirect initiative or via a direct initiative, the latter then being dubbed a Popular initiated Referendum.

Contents

Proposition 6 would have placed additional penalties on gang related and drug crime.

Provisions of Prop 6

Proposition 6 would:

Estimated fiscal impact

The California Legislative Analyst's Office has arrived at the following summary of Prop. 6's estimated costs:

Funds to pay for these costs, should Prop. 6 pass, will come from 0.3% of California's general fund. [2]

In the current California state budget, $600 million (0.6%) is set aside to assist with local law enforcement. If the initiative passes, an additional $350 million (0.3%) will be required to enforce some of its provisions. [3]

Authors of Prop. 6

California State Senate upper house of the California State Legislature

The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.

George Runner American politician

George C. Runner, Jr. is an American politician from California who served on the California State Board of Equalization, the only publicly elected tax commission in the United States. A Republican, he represented the Board's 1st District from 2015 to 2019.

Supporters of Prop. 6

The name of the official campaign committee supporting Proposition 6 is the Committee to Take Back Our Neighborhoods. [8]

Arguments in favor of Prop. 6

Radio ads

Path to the ballot

The petition drive to place the measure on the ballot was conducted by National Petition Management, at a cost of $1.022 million. [10]

Supporters turned in over 750,000 signatures on April 25 to qualify the measure for the November 2008 ballot, and the measure was subsequently approved for the ballot., [11] [12]

Donors who support Prop. 6

As of July 14, 2008, eight of the largest donors to Prop. 6 included:

Nicholas, who was arraigned on June 16, 2008 and pleaded not guilty on charges that included drug use, security fraud and conspiracy and has withdrawn from active support of the initiative, though the campaign has stated they will not return his $1,000,000 contribution. Ironically he is also charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, meaning he himself would receive the tougher penalties of this initiative. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Opposition to Prop. 6

The official committee opposing Proposition 6 is known as No on Propositions 6 & 9, Communities for Safe Neighborhoods and Fiscal Responsibility.

Arguments against Prop. 6

Donors who oppose Prop. 6

The name of the official campaign committee opposing Prop. 6 is No on Propositions 6 & 9, Communities for Safe Neighborhoods. [22]

As of September 5, 2008, the five largest donors against Prop. 6 consisted of the Ella Baker Center and four labor unions:

Newspaper endorsements

Editorial boards opposed

Results

Electoral results by county. CA2008Prop6.png
Electoral results by county.
Proposition 6 [25]
ChoiceVotes%
X mark.svg No8,559,64769.12
Yes3,824,37230.88
Valid votes12,384,01990.11
Invalid or blank votes1,359,1589.89
Total votes13,743,177100.00

Basic information

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References

  1. 1 2 Legislative Analyst's Office's Report
  2. http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/BudgetSummary/SUM/1249561.html "California's Budget 2008" California Department of Finance
  3. Runners support initiative against gender law, Daily Press, Dec. 30, 2007
  4. Supervisor Gary Ovitt
  5. Senator George Runner
  6. A Message From Senator George Runner, Oct. 27, 2008
  7. Safe Neighborhoods Statistics and Facts
  8. 1 2 Prop 6
  9. California Secretary of State
  10. Campaign expenditure details
  11. The Appeal Democrat, Crime initiative could hit ballot, April 30, 2008
  12. KHTS-AM, "Runners Looking To Target Gangs In Ballot Initiative", March 18, 2008
  13. Details of donations to the Yes on 6 committee
  14. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0605082nicholas1.html "Henry Nicholas charged with, among other things, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute">
  15. http://news.muckety.com/2008/06/13/indicted-billionaire-henry-nicholas-iii-crusaded-for-tough-penalties-for-criminals/3401 "Indicted billionaire Henry Nicholas III crusaded for tough penalties for criminals"
  16. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-greene11-2008jun11,0,119616.story "The Two Henry Nicholases"
  17. http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-me-nicholas25dec25,1,1689098.story "Initiative sponsor in spotlight"
  18. http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/013300.html "Nicholas pleads not guilty"
  19. List of Prop 6 opponents
  20. http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2008/06/09/16/0609tabs.source.prod_affiliate.4.pdf
  21. Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies, Loren Siegel, 2003
  22. Defeat the Runner Initiative
  23. Details of donations to the No on 6 & 9 committee
  24. Los Angeles Times, "No on Proposition 6", September 26, 2008
  25. "Statement of Vote: 2008 General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2008-12-13.

Additional reading