CA Democrats Trying to Salvage Law That Weakened Property Crime Penalties
California Republicans are slamming state Democrats for the move, which they say will confuse voters. Meanwhile, smash and grab robberies and shoplifting sprees continue.
California Democrats’ experimenting with senseless policy continues unabated. They want to weaken a measure that would reform Proposition 47, which weakened property crime penalties.
In 2014, voters in this state were persuaded to approve Proposition 47, which reduced certain property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, provided that the stolen goods weren’t worth more than $950.
Subsequently, “smash and grab” crimes and shoplifting have become rampant in this state. One recent and dramatic incident involved 20 people who surged into a California jewelry store and stole as much as they could in less than three minutes.
The group broke into the PNG Jewelers in Sunnyvale on June 12 at around 1:27 p.m., the city’s Department of Public Safety said in a news release. Sunnyvale is just south of San Francisco in what is known as the South Bay.
Surveillance video shows the suspects using hammers and other tools to budge the front door open. Masking their faces with hoods, the thieves fan out across the store to quickly destroy nearly every display case.
The suspects grab as much jewelry as they can before fleeing the scene, leaving the store with shards of glass scattered across the floor. Footage captured the reactions of two employees witnessing the damage after they walked into the store.
Nearly 20 people left a California jewelry store in shambles after stealing as much as they could in a smash-and-grab robbery that lasted less than three minutes.
The group broke into the PNG Jewelers in Sunnyvale on June 12 at around 1:27 p.m., the city's Department of Public… pic.twitter.com/fDA7QGxzRy
— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) June 27, 2024
Last month, a strong Proposition 47 Reform measure was approved for the November ballot. The new rule:
- Gives judges the option with drug sentencing to either send dealers to state prison instead of county jail when they are convicted of trafficking large quantities.
- Requires courts to provide a formal warning to convicted fentanyl and other hard drug dealers and manufacturers that they could face murder charges if they do it again and someone dies. This is also known as Alexandra’s Law.
- Enhances penalties for those who deal hard drugs like fentanyl that end up killing or seriously injuring someone.
- An offender with two prior convictions of theft can face a felony, regardless of the value of stolen property. It also enhances the penalties for those who steal $50,000 or more.
- Adds new laws to address “smash and grab” thefts that result in significant loss or damage that are committed by one or multiple criminals working together.
However, California Democrats are attempting to salvage their senseless Proposition 47 policies by creating an alternative ballot measure that is substantially weaker.
The lawmakers’ plan, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, seeks to put fewer people behind bars for stealing compared to the other plan. Newsom and lawmakers negotiated the plan behind closed doors over the weekend after failing to convince the coalition of law enforcement and business groups to drop their initiative.
Both proposals would make shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders and increase penalties for fentanyl-related charges. But the lawmakers’ plan is narrower in scope.
Under the retailers’ plan, any prior theft-related convictions, even if they happened years ago, would count toward a three-strike policy for increased sentences. Lawmakers also are proposing harsher punishment for repeat thieves, but the convictions would have to happen within three years of each other.
Prosecutors could aggregate the amount of all stolen goods within three years to charge harsher offenses under the Democrats’ plan.
California Republicans have pounced, deriding the Democratic move to confuse voters.
Republicans slammed the effort as working to undermine the democratic process, noting the support the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act has from prosecutors and some Democratic politicians.
“I’m appalled by our governor, who often neglects his duties in California to travel the country, lecturing other states about democracy while undermining it in his own,” Republican California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said in a post on X.
“Now, with only 72 hours notice, Democrat leadership is pushing a weaker initiative to confuse and manipulate voters at the ballot box. While Democrat leadership fears the power of the people, I remain hopeful that my reasonable Democrat friends will recognize this cynical tactic and stand firm against these political games,” Jones said on Sunday.
“Republicans have a clear message: stop playing politics with public safety! #FixCalifornia,” he added.
In an unbelievable move, Gavin Newsom and Democrat leadership have proposed a weaker crime initiative to compete with the one already on the November ballot. This is a blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people.
I’m appalled by our governor, who often neglects his…
— Brian W. Jones (@SenBrianJones) July 1, 2024
Meanwhile, smash and grab robberies and shoplifting sprees continue.
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Comments
Commiefornia got rid of their “3 Strikes” law because of the growth of the prison system. They thought it would be good fiscally to downsize the prison system. Along with the prop 47 that made it ok to steal you have runaway crime. The only ones who didn’t see that coming were the very demonrats responsible for this mess. A once great and prosperous state is well on its way to being Zimbabwe without the ability to print money. FJB
Prop 47 did not make it OK to steal.
California’s $950 boundary between misdemeanor and felony theft is actually on the low side. In Texas it’s $2,500. Several states I looked up, set it at $1,000. The only state I saw that has it lower than California is Florida, where it’s $750.
The problem in large parts of California is that the DAs have a policy of not prosecuting misdemeanor theft, which has led the police not to bother arresting people for it. In most places misdemeanors are generally prosecuted, so they carry the consequences that the legislature provided, and people are suitably deterred from committing them.
They added 459.5 PC to cover intentional theft from an open business. It used to be that “burglary” (459 PC – a felony) covered the entry into any structure with intent to commit a crime, including theft, regardless of the value of the theft or even if the crime was successful.
You ARE correct that many DAs decline/refuse to prosecute these types of theft, even if the perpetrators are identified & apprehended. The attitude of the DAs influence the police as no one wants to waste their time writing reports, etc, for something that will just be ignored.
The felony vs. misdemeanor line is deceptive. In California, a felony is anything punishable by a year or more.
In Pennsylvania, a Misdemeanor 3 is punishable by up to a year. That is for theft of $50 or less. A Misdemeanor 2 is up to 2 years in prison. That’s $50-200. A Misdemeanor 1 is up to five years in prison. That’s $200-2000. $2000-100,000 is a Felony 3, up to 7 years in prison. Retail theft is a little more complicated for your first two offenses, but your third one is a Felony 3 regardless of value.
Maybe the folks in California should propose a law allowing theft from politicians is allowed. Additionally, assaulting a politian is also allowed without penalty.
Since the policies of the democrats has allowed theft and assaults of citizen to increase, it is time to return the favor.
Just pass a law deporting the demographic most responsible to Africa and the problem will be solved. Overnight California will become the safest state in the union.
BLM says blame police? Enjoy the decline CA.
Overnight it wouldn’t be a state in the union. Such a law would be obviously invalid and anyone attempting to enforce it would be a criminal and would do hard time. And CA would not be a safe place at all, because it would be justly invaded by the US Armed Forces.
Keep enumerating. Haven’t yet seen any downside.
Crime is the new black entitlement.
Republicans pounced? Ye Gods, Leslie, you too?
Newt Gingrich made it all possible.
Perhaps I should have added a sarcasm emoji?
Fencers give homeless junkies a shopping list of items to steal. Homeless junkies walk out the front door of macy’s wearing $500 blazer, employees call 911, police never come. Rinse repeat.
Oakland hilton shutting down. Not possible to provide hotel guests secure parking. Car windows getting smashed out non-stop. Hotel employees call 911, police never come. Rinse repeat.
And in the long run [ok, maybe the medium run due to recent events], this is the only way to “fix” this. When businesses [and citizens] get tired of being victimized, they close up and leave.
The “recent events” I referred to that may accelerate the moves is a filing by State Farm Insurance in California. While I do not have the exact figures at hand [it differs for homeowners, businesses, etc.] after a 20% increase in rates last year they are demanding a 30% raise this year.
State Farm is the big boy on the insurance block, as in I think close to 40% of the residential and business insurance in the state of California. And I said “demanding” above. As in there are reports that they are threatening to pull out of the state if they do not get what they are asking for.
If you are a business in California and you are getting looted and pillaged, there is no police protection, and now your insurance is going up catastrophically with no sign of the rates not continuing to rise . . . maybe you start looking across state lines for better places to set up.
And, in passing, coastal California has a housing shortage which influences the cost of living. As insurance rates rise, the cost of building new housing rises; meaning less housing being built,
Leftists do not believe in either reality or consequences. The universe does.
Subotai Bahadur
The housing shortage and the cost of living is turning coastal Ca too unaffordable and drives the riff-raff (middle class) out of the area. Only the very poor serving the very wealthy. So boosting the costs favor the uber well off. Lenin was correct… high taxes and inflation will crush the middle class. Until the very wealthy face the same issues and risks… nothing will change. The only functional reversal would be a huge natural disaster for the coast from Orange country to north of San Fran.
It’s all part and parcel of Angela Davis’ prison abolition scheme; Soros DA’s, stripping three strikes, reducing existing prison populations etc. etc.
In 2009-10 Jerry Brown colluded with a federal judge to declare California prisons overcrowded and to immediately release xyc numbers of “non-violent” prisoners. Then, in intervals, release more prisoners.
Of course business owners wanted nothing to do with hiring “non-violent” career criminals. So began the era of the “homeless” encampment.
Building new prisons or renovating old ones was never considered a “morally” viable option. Newsom and the Democratic Party of California agreed and sold P47 as a fixall.
The release of petty criminals – and the rise of petty crime – is literally viewed as something people should accept because prison abolition is foundational to social justice.
Of course it doesn’t make sense. This is how Marxists operate.
During covid hysteria, gov newsom declared mass early release of felons in CA prison system.
This whole mess is the product of efforts to reduce the numbers black persons in jail and prison. The noisy minority thinks that crime is done equally, by percentage, across all demographics. The numbers show this not to be true.
Before all this madness CA had a $400 petit-grand split on theft. There was a provision that petit theft with a prior conviction for theft (ONE prior) made the subsequent theft a felony with state prison a punishment option.
Also, all burglary carried a felony sentence option. Burglary was the entry to a structure with the intent to commit any theft or a felony. These smash-and-grab events are burglary, and all participants are principals. CA has conspiracy laws that are broken by these events.
The lack of prosecution by District Attorneys is the big problem. The gutting of the bail system has kept criminals on the street.
There are two ways a people can be secured in their persons and property against crime committed by fellow citizens:
1. A system of justice where all offenders are prosecuted fairly and punished uniformly, where the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt — in front of the accused’s jurors of his peers — in a speedy and fair trial;
2. A militarized police state. Usually comes about when people throw up their arms in desperation and beg their government to please make it — the lawlessness–stop.
3. Vigilante…
the 3rd world mentality took over america long long ago
thanks to the lefty agenda the middle class has been enslaved and its not over yet
Kevin Kiley
@KevinKileyCA
Each of Newsom’s corrupt schemes to subvert the End Prop. 47 initiative has failed. But he just revealed one last Hail Mary that is the most warped plot yet.
The Governor is strong-arming the Supermajority to put a competing Prop. 47 “reform” initiative on the ballot. This is an odd move, for starters, because he’s spent all year insisting an initiative isn’t necessary or helpful. But since disenfranchising voters is no longer an option, he’s now trying to confuse them into picking his version of the initiative – which is of course much weaker than the true End Prop. 47 initiative.
One potential snag with this plan is the deadline to put an initiative on the ballot has passed. A second snag is that putting a measure on the ballot without going through the signature-gathering process requires a 2/3 vote of the Legislature, and he doesn’t have the votes for that.
But no matter: to get around both the missed deadline and the 2/3 requirement, Newsom is calling a separate “Special Election” for his initiative, which will just so happen to be set for November 5, 2024 and wrapped into the same ballot as End 47 and everything else. I’m sure he’s just trying to save paper.
And while he was changing deadlines, he also had his Secretary of State change last Friday’s deadline for numbering the Propositions so that his initiative will get the highest available number (“Prop. 2”) and appear before the true End 47 initiative on the ballot.
Even up to this point, you might not see the problem. Won’t voters just pass both measures, so we’ll have both the strong protections of End 47 and the weak protections of Newsom’s initiative? Well, he thought of that too.
In the most shamelessly anti-democratic move yet, the text of Newsom’s initiative says that if it passes by a higher margin than End 47, then the entire End 47 initiative is null and void – even where there is no conflict whatsoever between the two initiatives. There is no other way to say it: Newsom has created a mechanism to overturn the result of a democratic election.
And let’s not forget his ultimate objective: to allow fentanyl dealers to keep killing people, serial thieves to go unpunished, and drug addicts to go without treatment. To achieve those perverse ends, he is willing to turn the democratic process in California upside-down.
What do you call a mob of blmplo destroying property and stealing?
A graduation present