Ten years later, voters to reconsider Prop 47

Nearly 10 years ago, in November 2014, California voters easily approved
Proposition 47, which reduced certain nonserious and nonviolent property
and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. The measure also
allowed certain offenders who have been previously convicted of such
crimes to apply for reduced sentences.

In general, offenders convicted of misdemeanor crimes were to be
punished less severely than felony offenders. The purpose of the
proposition was to lessen prison overcrowding.

Now, a bipartisan group, led by many county district attorneys,
including Riverside’s Mike Hestrin, have prepared a proposition to
modify Prop 47. They have already collected more than 900,000 signatures
to get it on the November 2024 ballot. The secretary of state’s office
is currently reviewing the signatures.

“We must prioritize the safety of our communities. This proposed ballot
measure does just that, fixing prior legislation that has harmed public
safety. I am grateful for the public’s support of signing ballots to
qualify this essential bill onto the ballot,” Hestrin said in his news
release announcing the submission of the proposed initiative. “It is
time for common sense reforms that hold people accountable for their
criminal behavior and ensures justice for our community members.”

In 2014, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that passage of Prop
47 would reduce prison population by several thousand inmates and
produce annual savings in the $200 million range.

Every week, major media publications and broadcasts report stories about
the rising incidence of shoplifting and commercial burglary. While the
data is mixed, many public officials, such as, Riverside County Sheriff
Chad Bianco and Hestrin, believe Prop 47 created an excessive leniency
that is a large contributor to today’s crime.

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released a study in
2018, using data through 2016, that showed mixed results in identifying
the cause of crime and whether it was increasing after Prop 47’s
passage.

This January, Magnus Lofstrom, policy director and senior fellow at
PPIC, testified before the Little Hoover Commission, and concluded,
“Recent trends in retail theft vary across the state and by type of
offense — but the data indicate a rise in shoplifting, especially in the
Bay Area, and a broader rise in commercial burglary among urban
counties.”

He stressed that the data is somewhat skewed because shoplifting had
been reduced to a misdemeanor, if the value of goods were less than
$950. Also, the data depended upon retailers reporting alleged thefts to
local police.

State data indicate that shoplifting decreased 10.7% in the five years
from 2017 but increased 28% from 2021 to 2022.

Despite the mixed data, many public officials, encouraged by the public
and law enforcement officials, want to take actions to address these
fears. Several bills have been introduced in the state Legislature and
hearings are beginning to be held.

The supporters of the proposed initiative argue that Prop 47 has had “…
unintended consequences over the past decade — repeat and often
organized retail theft, inner-city store closings, and difficulty
convincing people to seek drug and mental health treatment …”

State Assembly leader Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) has established a Select
Committee on Retail Theft, chaired by member Rick Chavez Zbur
(D-Hollywood).

When he announced the committee’s creation, he was joined by State
Attorney General Rob Bonta, Jennifer Barrera, president of the
California Chamber of Commerce, Rachel Michelin, president of the
California Retailers Association, Jonathan Feldman, California Police
Chiefs Association, and district attorneys from Ventura and Stanislaus
counties.

There are also competing private groups over the issue of Prop 47’s
influence and effectiveness. Californians for Safer Communities
sponsored the initiative to modify Prop 47 and collected the signatures.

On its website (https://casafecommunities.com), it states, “Whether it’s
rampant retail theft causing neighborhood store closures or the growing
epidemic of fentanyl overdoses, Californians can’t afford half-measures
to address these pressing issues. The Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and
Theft Reduction Act provides balanced solutions to ensure our
communities are safe.”

And offering a broader approach to the problem is Smart Solutions
(https://ellabakercenter.org/smartsolutionsca), which supports the
legislative agenda Rivas and Zbur have introduced.

Its platform declares, “#SmartSolutions is a new, intersectional
campaign to counter efforts to double down on criminalization and mass
incarceration — which inevitably means wasting precious state resources
that could be better spent on housing, health care, schools, services
for victims, and programs that reduce recidivism and promote
accountability beyond incarceration. Californians won’t go back.
Californians want smart solutions for public safety.”

One of the main measures the Retail Theft Committee is considering is
Assembly Bill 2943. The bill targets serial retail thieves and allows
law enforcement to aggregate similar thefts from different victims into
grand theft.

“The bill also provides new tools to law enforcement to arrest for
shoplifting based on a witness’s sworn statement or video footage of the
crime and extends the ability of police to keep repeat offenders in
custody,” according to the committee release.

It also offers actions to change behavior, not simply penalties for the
perpetrators. “Additionally, to address the root causes of theft, AB
2943 promotes the use of diversion and rehabilitative programs like drug
court. The bill also extends the ability of counties to create and use
theft diversion programs as alternatives to incarceration,” Rivas said
in the news release.

Another proposal in the package is Senate Bill 1144. This proposal would
strengthen California law regulating online marketplaces in order to
reduce retail theft, allowing law enforcement to address criminals’ use
of online sales to dispose of stolen goods.

“This bill strengthens SB 301 by auditing additional regulations on
those high-volume third-party sellers that use online marketplaces to
advertise goods, but then collect the money from buyers in ‘offline’
transactions — transactions that make it much more difficult to track
whether the goods sold were stolen,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner
(D-Berkeley) who authored the bill.

Besides harsher measures for conviction of fentanyl sales, the new
initiative has several other intentions, according to Californians for
Safer Communities.

“Hold those who are committing repeated retail theft and fentanyl sales
crimes accountable, create accountability for repeat smash and grab
offenders who are driving up costs for all Californians and chasing
retailers out of the state, and bring back incentives and accountability
that are needed for individuals to get into necessary drug treatment and
job training programs.”

In the November 2020 election, 62% of California voters opposed Prop 20
which would have reversed parts of Prop 47. Prosecutors would have had
the ability to again charge low-level crimes as felonies, in particular
those involving petty theft, restored. It would also have created two
new crimes, including one called organized retail crime aimed at repeat
shoplifters.