Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

20 hours ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

20 hours ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

20 hours ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

20 hours ago

US Health Department Widens Immigrant Benefit Restrictions

21 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Stabbing That Left Man Critically Injured

21 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Next of Kin for North Fork Man

21 hours ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

23 hours ago

China Signals Willingness to Sell Fighter Jets as Iran Eyes J-10 Aircraft

23 hours ago

Tulare County Man Arrested in Ivanhoe Shooting, Second Suspect Still at Large

23 hours ago
Frustrated Californians May Be Ready for a Tougher Approach to Crime
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 12 months ago on
July 23, 2024

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California speaks during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 10, 2024. Shoplifting and fentanyl use have tested the patience of California voters, who will decide in November whether to impose stricter laws that would lead to more incarceration. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LOS ANGELES — Deodorant, shampoo and underwear are all under lock and key in many stores in California. Retail clerks are often told to ignore shoplifters, after a handful of store employees who confronted thieves were assaulted or killed. Video clips of smash-and-grab crews snatching armloads of merchandise have gone viral.

Californians Fed Up

Californians of all political stripes have become fed up with the problems plaguing supermarkets and retail stores, not to mention car break-ins and open-air drug use. Some top Democrats, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, have joined conservatives in denouncing a cascade of smaller crimes that have contributed to a sense of lawlessness in major cities.

Now, the state’s lawmakers and voters are weighing what to do.

With public sentiment in the state shifting toward stiffer punishment, California finds itself debating whether to roll back decade-old changes that sharply reduced the state’s inmate count and made it a leader in reducing mass incarceration.

Reversing Proposition 47

A coalition of law enforcement figures, business owners and relatives of fentanyl addicts want to reverse the 2014 ballot measure known as Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for shoplifting and drug possession. That measure has been blamed so often for the state’s crime woes that it is among the few past initiatives that residents can identify by number — right up there with Proposition 13, the state’s landmark property tax limitation, and Proposition 209, the state’s prohibition of affirmative action.

With financial help from giant retailers Target, Home Depot and Walmart, the coalition has gotten a ballot measure qualified for the November election that would impose harsher punishments for crimes that result in lighter charges or no prosecution today.

Many Democratic state leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have acknowledged the state’s crime problems. Newsom was captured on a hot mic in February describing a shoplifting episode at a Target store in which he witnessed a man shoplifting without being confronted by anyone. “I was like, ‘Why am I spending $380 — everyone can walk the hell right out,’” he said.

But Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders say changing Proposition 47 is the wrong way to go. They argue that the new ballot measure would result in thousands more incarcerations, at a cost to the state of hundreds of millions of dollars, at a time when Democratic leaders want to close prisons. They want to leave Proposition 47 intact, and pass legislation in August that would tighten laws on retail theft and repeat offenders.

Prop 47 Reduced Drug-Possession Crimes

Proposition 47 reduced most drug-possession crimes to misdemeanors, and raised the threshold for thefts to be charged as felonies, to $950 in property or more. The measure allowed people to get out of prison early if they were incarcerated under the old laws, and it reduced the number of people sent to prison. It also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to services for people returning home from prison, helping to reduce the rate of recidivism, according to a study by a state regulator.

The fate of Proposition 47 will be decided by California’s nearly 27 million eligible voters in November. Nearly 1 million people signed a petition to amend Proposition 47 by imposing tougher sentences for shoplifting and drug possession.

The issue of how to address a surge in retail theft and the devastation of the overdose crisis provoked a political brawl this summer in Sacramento, California’s capital. Fearing that the measure backed by law enforcement officials would go too far, Newsom and his allies tried to place on the ballot their own more moderate initiative, which would have addressed the problem of repeat thieves but would have stopped short of reimposing prison sentences for drug possession.

Newsom Abandons Effort

Newsom, by then distracted by national politics after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate, quickly abandoned that effort, saying they could not get it done in time to place it on the November ballot. At the same time, negotiations with the tough-on-crime coalition to kill the more sweeping initiative failed.

“They refused, opting to instead push a ballot measure that would revive policies from the era of mass incarceration and the failed War on Drugs,” Newsom said.

A decade ago, the criminal justice debate unfolding in California was very different. The U.S. Supreme Court had ordered California to reduce the populations of its overcrowded prisons. Then-Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the crisis had led to “needless suffering and death.” And he sprinkled his opinion with sordid details of suffering: suicidal inmates locked in cages the size of a telephone booth; one toilet for 54 prisoners; sick inmates routinely denied medical care and dying because of it.

California voters responded by passing a series of measures, including Proposition 47, that reduced sentences, offered early parole and relaxed the state’s “three strikes” law. But in the years since, prosecutors and law enforcement officials have said Proposition 47 stripped them of the tools to effectively deter crime.

On a given day, there are now fewer than 100,000 people in California’s prisons, compared with about 160,000 when the Supreme Court issued its order.

Backers of this year’s rollback measure, known as Proposition 36, believe that fed-up voters will see that cost as worthwhile.

“What used to be a simple five-minute trip to the store has now become a ritual of clicking call buttons and waiting, sometimes ages, to get something as simple as a razor,” said Christian Medina, 26, who delivers groceries for Instacart in the Southern California city of Whittier.

At a Target store in Pasadena recently, Steven Wahl, 63, found the two items he was looking for — a charging cable and Tylenol — behind lock and key. “In the past, I’ve seen very expensive electronics locked up, and I kind of understand that because they are expensive, but now it really does feel like the most basic items are locked up,” he said.

Wahl said he did not know enough yet to decide how to vote on the November ballot initiative, but he was dismayed that some people had blamed the retail theft crisis on homeless people and had accused them of stealing things to sell on the street.

“I think they’re loading too much of this onto the homeless trying to sell things, when the homeless are just trying to live from day to day,” he said. “I think what we need to start thinking about is maybe doing more for our homeless, and worry less about locking everything up.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Tim Arango/Jim Wilson
c.2024 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Some of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Survived Attacks, Israeli Official Says

DON'T MISS

Mahmoud Khalil Seeks $20 Million From Trump Administration Over Immigration Arrest

DON'T MISS

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Finding Next of Kin for Man Who Died in Hospital

DON'T MISS

Six Secret Service Agents Punished Over Trump Assassination Attempt

DON'T MISS

Fresno Teens Arrested in Violent Assaults That Injured Two Men, Including Elderly Victim

DON'T MISS

Wonderful Co. Has a New Face Promoting Pistachios: MVP Josh Allen

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Francisco Salvador Zuniga

DON'T MISS

Fire Damages Donations at Fresno Mission Thrift Store

DON'T MISS

Oil Falls Amid Bearish Trump Tariff Outlook

DON'T MISS

Higher Premiums and Lost Coverage: How Trump’s Budget Will Change Health Care in California

UP NEXT

Mahmoud Khalil Seeks $20 Million From Trump Administration Over Immigration Arrest

UP NEXT

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Finding Next of Kin for Man Who Died in Hospital

UP NEXT

Six Secret Service Agents Punished Over Trump Assassination Attempt

UP NEXT

Fresno Teens Arrested in Violent Assaults That Injured Two Men, Including Elderly Victim

UP NEXT

Wonderful Co. Has a New Face Promoting Pistachios: MVP Josh Allen

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Francisco Salvador Zuniga

UP NEXT

Fire Damages Donations at Fresno Mission Thrift Store

UP NEXT

Oil Falls Amid Bearish Trump Tariff Outlook

UP NEXT

Higher Premiums and Lost Coverage: How Trump’s Budget Will Change Health Care in California

UP NEXT

Fresno County Fire Destroys Structures, Contained at 20 Acres

Some of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Survived Attacks, Israeli Official Says

15 hours ago

Mahmoud Khalil Seeks $20 Million From Trump Administration Over Immigration Arrest

16 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Finding Next of Kin for Man Who Died in Hospital

16 hours ago

Six Secret Service Agents Punished Over Trump Assassination Attempt

17 hours ago

Fresno Teens Arrested in Violent Assaults That Injured Two Men, Including Elderly Victim

17 hours ago

Wonderful Co. Has a New Face Promoting Pistachios: MVP Josh Allen

18 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Francisco Salvador Zuniga

18 hours ago

Fire Damages Donations at Fresno Mission Thrift Store

18 hours ago

Oil Falls Amid Bearish Trump Tariff Outlook

18 hours ago

Higher Premiums and Lost Coverage: How Trump’s Budget Will Change Health Care in California

19 hours ago

Immigration Raids on California Cannabis Nurseries Spark Protests

LOS ANGELES – Federal agents conducted immigration enforcement raids on Thursday on state-licensed marijuana nurseries in an agricultu...

5 minutes ago

U.S. federal agents block a road leading to an agricultural facility where U.S. federal agents and immigration officers conducted an operation, in Camarillo, California, U.S., July 10, 2025. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)
5 minutes ago

Immigration Raids on California Cannabis Nurseries Spark Protests

A 3D-printed miniature model depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. flag and word "Tariffs" in this illustration taken, April 17, 2025. (Reuters File)
9 minutes ago

US Tariff Rate May Be More Than 20% After Latest Round, Global Business Group Says

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 minutes ago

The White House Aide Driving Trump’s Aggressive Immigration Agenda

15 hours ago

Some of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Survived Attacks, Israeli Official Says

Mahmoud Khalil speaks in an interview with Reuters in New York City, U.S., July 2, 2025. (Reuters File)
16 hours ago

Mahmoud Khalil Seeks $20 Million From Trump Administration Over Immigration Arrest

The Madera County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help locating the next of kin of Jeffrey Keith Cable, who died June 24, 2025, and whose family remains unidentified. (Madera County SO)
16 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Public’s Help Finding Next of Kin for Man Who Died in Hospital

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump with his bloodied face is assisted by the Secret Service as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 13, 2024. (AP File)
17 hours ago

Six Secret Service Agents Punished Over Trump Assassination Attempt

17 hours ago

Fresno Teens Arrested in Violent Assaults That Injured Two Men, Including Elderly Victim

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend