Newsom, Democrats Pulls Weak Anti-Crime Measure From California’s November Ballot

Newsom, Democrats Pulls Weak Anti-Crime Measure From California’s November Ballot

Earlier this week, I reported that California Democrats intended to offer a measure on this November’s ballot designed to counter a stronger measure already slated for this election cycle that reforms rules initially approved via Proposition 47 in 2014.

Proposition 47 was touted to improve public safety and reduce prison costs.

What the 2014 proposition actually did was substantially weaken previously existing and highly effective property crime penalties, resulting in a proliferation of smash-and-grab robberies and an epidemic of shoplifting.

Now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers are pulling their counter-measure.

In a wild turn of events, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers backed away Tuesday from plans to put an anti-crime measure on the ballot, a day after they announced the proposal that had been the subject of protracted negotiations at the Capitol.

The abrupt cancellation capped half a year of political maneuvering on criminal justice policy, with Democrats zigging and zagging as they responded to a tough-on-crime initiative backed by Republicans, district attorneys and major retail stores. That initiative is still heading to the November ballot, asking voters to repeal parts of Proposition 47, the decade-old law that turned some nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors.

Newsom had hoped to offer voters an alternative measure, something that would address concerns about theft and fentanyl without being as punitive as the prosecutors’ measure. Democrats spent days haggling over the alternative measure, and it was formalized in legislation Sunday night — in the final hours before the cutoff for lawmakers to draft a measure for the November ballot.

There are likely several reasons for this maneuver. Perhaps one is the dramatic daytime robbery and killing of a tourist from New Zealand at a high-end Southern California shopping center in the middle of the day.

There are no safe places left in Gavin Newsom’s lawless California.

A gang of felonious thugs murder a woman as she was simply trying to shop in a Newport Beach mall. pic.twitter.com/1UStA56Qs4

— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) July 3, 2024

A group of suspects led police on a cross-county pursuit after allegedly opening fire and running over and killing a woman at the Fashion Island Mall.

Newport Police Department detectives said the incident started at about 3:30 p.m. when the suspects robbed a 68-year-old woman from New Zealand and her husband outside the Barnes and Noble. The suspects then jumped into a white car and ran over the woman, killing her.

Officers said the suspects then opened fire as they drove away.

“I’m horrified. I’m mourning the loss of someone who died inside of our city because of crime … This is a tragedy and I’m furious,” said Newport Beach City Mayor Will O’Neill.

Legal Insurrection readers will likely be unsurprised that the alleged robbers/murderers have an extensive criminal history.

Authorities identified the suspects as 26-year-old Leroyernest Joseph McCrary of Compton; 18-year-old Jaden Cunningham of Lancaster; and 18-year-old Malachi Edward Darnell of Los Angeles. All three were booked on suspicion of homicide, robbery with a firearm and conspiracy.

McCrary, who also goes by the name LeRoy Ernest McCrary, has a history of crimes in L.A. County. He was arrested and charged in October 2022 with being a narcotics addict in possession of a firearm, a felony. He pleaded no contest to that felony charge the October of the following year.

McCrary also was charged in a robbery case in September 2023 and pleaded no contest. He received a concurrent sentence for both convictions and got two years of probation and three years in state prison, with the sentence suspended.

McCrary also was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license in both 2018 and 2021.

NEW: The LA Times reports one of the suspects has a lengthy criminal history in LA County. He should have been locked up for prior felonies, but he did no prison time in yet another soft on crime prosecution under LA DA George Gascon.

“[McCrary] was arrested and charged in…

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) July 3, 2024

Another reason for Newsom’s pullback could be related to Biden’s post-debate crisis. Discussions about California’s crime chaos might prove harmful to the governor’s presidential aspirations, which may have been moved up 4 years.

Gov. Gavin Newsom will travel to Washington on Wednesday to attend a meeting between President Joe Biden and Democratic governors amid the fallout from the president’s disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump.

“Governor Newsom will head to White House tomorrow to attend the Governors meeting and to stand with the President,” a spokesperson for the California Democrat said late Tuesday.

As White House aides scramble to tamp down fears about the president’s cognitive abilities in the wake of Thursday’s shaky debate performance, Biden will gather with Democratic governors and congressional leaders Wednesday evening. The meeting follows a Monday call when two dozen Democratic governors gathered to discuss among themselves how they should respond to the crisis situation. Newsom, whose name frequently appears in polls alongside other Democratic surrogates like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as potential replacements, was not on the call.

Whatever the reason, gutting the state’s crime penalties was a dumb decision for voters to make in 2014. As a Californian, I sure hope the right lessons have been learned.

Hopefully, the Proposition 47 reform measure – Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act – will pass by a wide margin.

As an American, I hope our governor has hit the peak of his political career.

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