A movement is underway to reform a decade-old California crime law that opponents on both sides of the political aisle say has wreaked havoc on the state, while a “critical” supporter of the measure is running for president.
The 2014 law, Proposition 47, reclassified a number of felonies, including retail and property theft, as misdemeanors. Under Prop 47, petty theft of goods valued at under $950 is classified as a misdemeanor, even for multiple offenses. It also took a broad swath of narcotics possession offenses that were previously felonies and converted them to misdemeanors.
A ballot initiative launched last year to amend Prop 47, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, or Prop 36, has been gaining support from conservatives and liberals alike in the Golden State and will be included on the November ballot.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan have joined the effort to amend the referendum, along with district attorneys up and down the state. Vice President Kamala Harris, critics say, gave the bill “critical” support, and she won’t say whether she wants to see Prop 47 amended.
CALIFORNIA CRIME REFORM GETS ‘UNHEARD OF’ SUPPORT FROM DAS, SMALL BUSINESSES, PROGRESSIVE MAYORS
Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked early on in the Biden administration with addressing the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America. (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt/Pool)
“Kamala Harris is not a hardliner [on crime],” Douglas Eckenrod, a former deputy director of parole for the California prison system, told NBC News. “Prop 47 couldn’t happen without the…
