CALIFORNIA SENTENCING REFORM RESULTS IN CRIME INCREASE

Proposition 47 isn’t working and never did

By Editorial Board

Enterprise-Record
June 19, 2018

The release of the latest study about “sentencing reform” and Proposition 47 provided yet another interesting case study that you can take solid information and spin it in any direction you wish.

Supporters of sentencing reform said the study by the Public Policy Institute of California proved that Proposition 47 is working. Opponents of the proposition say same study demonstrates that California is less safe because of Proposition 47.

Proposition 47, approved by voters four years ago, took crimes that formerly would land a person in jail, like petty theft or drug possession, and instead made them infractions punishable by a ticket, not jail. So of course it stands to reason that petty theft would rise. Two-bit thieves stepped up their game, knowing there was little in the way of consequences.

Sure enough, the PPIC study showed theft has risen since Proposition 47 passed. The crime increase comes despite the fact that employment and the economy is booming. Historically speaking, crime is worse when the economy is bad.

You don’t have to look any farther than Chico to see that drug addiction is more rampant than ever, too. And shoplifting. And receiving stolen property. And all the other crimes that were reclassified as lesser offenses.

The study shows that to be true.

So why was Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, among the many Republicans blasting the PPIC study, calling it “misleading”?

Gallagher was reacting to the PPIC’s summary. The headline on the PPIC study said, “Proposition 47 Linked to Increase in Some Property Crimes, But Not Violent Crime.”

“The title and summary of this report are extremely misleading,” Gallagher said in a press release the day the report was released. “Read the full report and it tells you everything you need to know about Prop. 47 – and it’s not good.”

Fortunately, the reporter for The Associated Press did read the full report. That resulted in a headline that said, “Study: Proposition 47 contributed to more theft,” and a story that began, “California voters’ decision to reduce penalties for drug and property crimes in 2014 contributed to a jump in car burglaries, shoplifting and other theft, researchers reported Tuesday.”

Proposition 47 supporters seized on the fact that recidivism has decreased. But the fact is, the two-year recidivism rate is barely down (1.8 percent) and still extremely high (71 percent). Further, it’s natural for police to focus on major crimes, the ones that will send a person to jail, not ones that will result in a ticket.

The proposition hasn’t lived up to its promise. Prison spending in the state continues to increase even though there are fewer prisoners. That leaves no money to redirect into treatment programs, and Proposition 47 de-emphasized treatment anyway.

Voters created this mess. Voters eventually will see their mistake and another proposition will correct some of the problems. It can’t happen too quickly.