They will never apologize or acknowledge errors. Many on the left are joining a Republican effort to repeal parts of Proposition 47 that reduced punishments for drug possession and theft of property worth less than $950.
The astonishing wave of crimes involving fentanyl and "smash and grab" retail theft has many liberals like San Francisco Mayor London Breed rethinking their approach to crime.
Breed originally supported Proposition 47. But after seeing some of the "unintended consequences" of the law, she supports repealing parts of it.
"Our goal is not to keep people locked up," she said. "But when there are no real consequences for crimes that are committed in this city, that’s a real problem."
Duh.
And there was nothing "unintended" about the consequences. The police departments warned the left and the criminal justice reform movement. District attorneys warned them. Retail groups warned them. The "unintended consequences" didn't take Mayor Breed and her cohorts by surprise. They heard the warnings and simply ignored them.
And now, here we are.
California Republicans have long been the harshest critics of the law and have repeatedly tried to overturn it. They argue it has emboldened people to steal without fear of consequences. The initiative’s chief proponent and campaign chair are both Republicans. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, who introduced an unsuccessful measure as a state lawmaker to roll back Prop. 47, hosted an event last week encouraging supporters to sign the petition to put the measure on the ballot. Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Assembly Member Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, have also announced their support.
Supporters of Proposition 47, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, argued that reducing jail time for lower-level offenses would be good for communities and save the state money that could be used for education and other government programs aimed at keeping people from committing crimes in the first place.
Newsom points out that raising the felony theft limit isn't going to do much to deter "organized retail theft" as he calls it. He says that the felony theft limit in Texas is $2,500 so it's not a question of a limit on theft prosecution.
“Everyone is rushing to reform Prop. 47 to raise the threshold,” he told reporters at a news conference last month. “That's not the fundamental issue.”
As a practical matter, he's probably right. But deterrence doesn't work unless the law is enforced. And local prosecutors are refusing to send these smash-and-grab criminals to jail.
Newsom has his own ideas about cracking down on rampant crime in California.
Newsom is also taking a more tough-on-crime approach to governing, recently sending more state police officers to crack down on theft and violence in Oakland and drug dealing in San Francisco. Last month, he called for lawmakers to send him legislation to increase punishments for people who steal, including by making it easier for police to arrest suspects even if they did not witness them stealing and imposing harsher penalties for car thieves and people who resell stolen goods. He’s also calling for changes to the law that would make it easier for prosecutors to show a person met the $950 threshold for stolen goods.
Though most Democrats have backed Proposition 47, there’s been some support for overhauling Proposition 47 among the party’s moderates for years. But the endorsement of the ballot measure by Mahan and Breed indicates distaste for the law is growing among Democrats. They join San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, a fellow Democrat who said the law needs to be changed during his State of the City address earlier this month.
“That law may have made sense at the time,” said Gloria. “However, since it was implemented, we’ve seen criminals exploit these reforms.”
Double "duh."
Criminals at all levels hold the perception that California and Californians are easy marks. That's not going to change with the small reforms lawmakers are proposing for Proposition 47.
