California voters approved a measure rolling back reforms that reduced the punishment for minor property and drug offenses, reverting those crimes to felonies once again.
Proposition 36 — drafted in response to spiking fentanyl deaths — would also toughen drug-related sentences, force some people into treatment, and threaten convicted drug dealers with murder charges. The measure was leading with a wide margin in early results Tuesday night.
Prop. 36 — officially the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act — would also turn a third misdemeanor theft or drug offense into a felony, the latter requiring treatment or prison.
The law will also make a number of other changes, including classifying fentanyl as a “hard drug” like cocaine or heroin, increasing jail time for dealers based on the drugs they sell, and “bundling” the value of stolen merchandise so it can be charged as a felony.
The proposed law’s authors designed it as a reversal of 2014’s Prop. 47, which among other things stopped severe punishments for people found guilty of stealing items with relatively low value.
Studies about that law’s impacts, along with a number of other criminal justice reforms, are mixed when it comes to their impact on drug sales and retail theft, which have become central issues since the pandemic.
According to a recent study of Prop. 47 by the Public Policy Institute of California, while the law reduced the prison population, some property and drug crimes reclassified as misdemeanors spiked after its passage.
Still, the institute included a caveat in its findings: “Prop 47 may not be the most important change to the criminal justice system in recent years; the pandemic brought challenges that have had lasting impacts on incarceration and enforcement.”
Since the passage of Prop. 47, according to the institute, the state saw a decline in jail and prison populations, as well as a drop in arrests for some drug and property crimes that were no longer felonies. Because of the decline in prison populations, the state saved $800 million over that period.
Supporters of Prop. 36 say the new law will make “California communities safer by addressing rampant theft and drug trafficking. It toughens penalties for fentanyl and drug traffickers and ‘smash-and-grabs’ while holding repeat offenders accountable. It targets serial thieves and encourages treatment for those addicted to drugs, using a balanced approach to fix loopholes in current laws.”
The measure was backed by major retailers like Walmart and the state’s prison guard union, but opposed by Gov. Gavin Newson, Contra Costa County’s district attorney, and others.
“Don’t be fooled. Proposition 36 will lead to more crime, not less. It reignites the failed war on drugs, makes simple drug possession a felony, and wastes billions on prisons, while slashing crucial funding for victims, crime prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. This puts prisons first and guts treatment. Vote No,” wrote the proposition’s opponents.