Ballot measure could reduce criminal penalties
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Proposition 47 gives California voters the chance to decide whether the state should ease up on sentences for some low level drug and property crimes. Supporters say it will save money and reduce crime. Opponents say it will make our communities more dangerous.
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon is one of the driving forces behind the measure. More than 60 percent of people released from prison in California are back inside within three years, and Gascon thinks Prop 47 will change that. "When you have a system where 6 times out of 10 you are failing, I would say that is not a working system."
Prop 47 would require some "non-serious and nonviolent" crimes be charged as misdemeanors and not felonies, as it often happens now. That would mean shorter sentences, served in county jails, not prisons. However the crimes covered by Prop 47 could be charged as felonies if the suspect has a previous conviction for serious offenses such as rape, murder, or child molestation.
If Proposition 47 passes, some convicted inmates could apply to be resentenced under the new rules.
According to Gascon "There are about 13 other states that have already done this, including Texas and many of the southern states, and they have been able to reduce incarceration and take those savings and put them into services."
The independent legislative analyst estimates state and county savings could reach several hundred million dollars under Prop 47. The measure requires the money saved be used for mental health care, drug treatment, programs to cut truancy in schools, and crime victim services. Gascon says "the funding is strictly earmarked for those purposes. It cannot be raided. It cannot go into the general fund. "
Under Prop 47, the crimes that would require lower misdemeanor sentences are possession of a small amount of illegal drugs for personal use, and property crimes, where the total loss is under $950, including theft, forgery, writing bad checks and receiving stolen property.
Proposition 47 is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and teachers unions. It has received major campaign contributions from both liberal and conservative sources.
But the measure is opposed by many law enforcement groups including the associations of California police chiefs and district attorneys.
Alameda County district attorney Nancy O'Malley believes Prop. 47 goes too far. She believes the crimes covered by the measure sometimes deserve stronger punishments and prosecutors need discretion for each case.
"I don't understand why theft of a firearm should only be a misdemeanor," O'Malley said. "I don't understand why things like (possessing a) date rape drug, or burglarizing a business should be only a misdemeanor."
Gascon counters that possessing a gun you know to be stolen is already a felony and so is rape, so serious criminals would still face those charges. Burglarizing a business would be a felony if the loss were more than $950
O'Malley thinks the legislative analyst's estimate of the money saved is exaggerated. She believes bureaucracy will absorb most of the money. Instead she thinks the money available for rehabilitation will go down. Under the governor's realignment plan, the state is already giving counties millions of dollars to help rehabilitate felons who are being transferred to county jails. But if those felons are reclassified as misdemeanor offenders, O'Malley says, they won't be eligible for the realignment funding.
"I think that puts us in a very dangerous position in how much intervention we are going to give and really how we are going to protect victims," she said.
Opponents of Prop 47 worry it could result in the release of dangerous criminals and let some offenders off the hook too easily.
But Gascon believes it moves away "from a punitive form of dealing with low level offenses to a more thoughtful way of rehabilitating people and creating safer communities."
For a look at our voting guide, click here.
written and produced by Jennifer Olney
