Trifecta of Prop 47, Prop 57 & AB109
The Trifecta of Prop. 47 (2014), Prop. 57 (2016) AB 109 (2011), has skyrocketed lawlessness, addictions and burglaries, while reclassifying rapes/assaults as "non-violent". Repeal Prop47 via End47.com
In August, I joined hundreds of neighbors at a vigil to grieve for John, a beloved store clerk that was beaten to death trying to stop a shoplifter at a San Francisco corner store. In the same month, break-ins of homes, cars and small businesses continue to skyrocket across my city and many others, along with fentanyl overdoses, homeless encampments and the closing of legacy businesses. I joined thousands of everyday residents in SF to protest on the steps of the 9th Circuit Court against a poorly defined injunction that prevented our city from clearing encampments among those who have turned down shelter due to addiction. And a few months earlier, a friend was drugged with a date-rape drug and sexually assaulted on a first date. I received more heart-breaking news when I discovered it was another friend’s 8 year old who was paralyzed from the neck down by a cross-fire bullet between rival gangs' shooting on the Oakland freeway. As a mother of tweens, I was overwhelmed at the senselessness of it all.
Like many of you, I’ve never been more disappointed in the direction of our cities, and I’ve never been more motivated to become politically active and restore common sense to our policies and government. Rampant lawlessness and addictions have been exacerbated by failed criminal justice reform. Our city and state government must course-correct and reinforce a criminal justice system that respects accountability and basic public safety.
“Right now California crimes that are considered nonserious and nonviolent - and that allow you to get out of jail or prison earlier - are drugging and raping somebody, raping a developmentally disabled person, spousal abuse, a drive-by shooting, human trafficking of a child. So a myriad of different crimes, some 17 to be exact" ~ CA Assemblyman Jim Cooper
Why we need to REPEAL Prop. 47 with amendments to differentiate psychedelics from hardcore drugs like fentanyl:
Escalating Addiction, Overdoses & Date-Rape crimes under Prop 47. Treating all drugs the same is one of the worst flaws of Prop. 47 - which decriminalized the use of hardcore drugs like fentanyl and date rape drugs i.e. GHB. Fentanyl which is 50-100x more addictive than heroin and morphine, has exacerbated overdoses, homelessness, encampments, and psychoses, while devastating the safety of our communities. We must reinstate felony convictions for drugs like fentanyl and GHB, and bring back accountability. No matter how many times someone is caught with date-rape drugs, they will not be charged with a felony. Making it easy to get and do drugs like fentanyl is not humanitarian. Fentanyl is the leading cause of deaths among adults, 18-45yrs old, claiming more young lives than Covid-19, cancer, suicides, and car accidents. For hardcore drugs like Fentanyl, we must incorporate detox and rehabilitation for felony convictions.
Cities across CA are experiencing escalating lawlessness. Prop. 47 encourages repeat drug and property crimes. Serial offenders can steal $900 of items, 100 days in a row, and not be charged with a felony. Prop. 47 reduced snatching purses from a person’s body and robbing merchants during working hours to misdemeanors. The massive thefts and lawlessness throughout CA is evident that criminals believe there’s no accountability in CA. We must allow for certain serial burglaries and assaults to become felonies.
Why we need to REPEAL Prop. 57: Voters were promised that only "non-violent" offenders would get early releases from Prop 57. But "non-violent" was left intentionally undefined. This loophole gives early release to thousands of violent criminals into the unknowing public who are convicted of child sex trafficking, assault with firearms, domestic assaults, rapes of an unconscious person, and drive-by shootings.
The following “non-violent” crimes which allows perpetrators eligibility for EARLY PAROLE and RELEASE into local communities:
• Rape by intoxication • Rape of an unconscious person • Human Trafficking involving sex act with minors • Drive-by shooting • Assault with a deadly weapon
• Hostage taking • Attempting to explode a bomb at a hospital or school • Domestic violence involving trauma • Supplying a firearm to a gang member • Hate crime
causing physical injury • Failing to register as a sex offender • Arson • Discharging a firearm on school grounds • Lewd acts against a child 14 or 15 • False imprisonment of an elder through violence.
Combined with Prop47, DNA cannot be collected from these “non-violent” criminals. In the past, 60% of unresolved murders and rapes were solved through low-level collection of DNA. Dismantling criminal justice is not the role of the legislative branch - we need to respect the combined efforts of our police, juries, judges, prosecutors and public defenders. We must allow the collection of DNA for some crimes that are considered misdemeanors by Prop 47 or reclassify the above list of crimes as felonies.
Why we need to AMEND AB109: known as the California Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, AB109 amended more than 500 criminal statutes, reduced penalties for parole violations and transferred thousands of “non-violent” offenders from state prisons to overwhelmed county jails and local probation officers. Inundated and ill-equipped, counties had to release thousands of criminals convicted of serial burglaries, child abuse, assault with firearms, and police evaders. Many localities saw smash-and-grab burglaries and shoplifting rise as a result. Both Prop. 57 and AB109 have been exacerbated by Prop. 47, which makes it almost impossible to lock up serial offenders for drug and property crimes. Many under-resourced counties have pleaded to the state to help incarcerate serial drug dealers, burglars and abusers, which have been released to local communities to allocate jail space for more "serious" offenders. We must amend AB109 to allow prosecutors to send repeat offenders to state prisons (which are now under capacity) to serve longer sentences.
Have there been attempts to repeal these flawed initiatives?
Yes, several bi-partisan bills have been introduced in our CA assembly and senate public safety committees to repeal prop47, but they have been blocked by the following:
SB 316 was blocked by Skinner, Wiener & Wahab in March 2023 in CA Senate Public Safety Committee. It would have allowed a Nov 2024 ballot to amend Prop 47 and make 3 theft-related crimes a felony.
AB 335 is a bi-partisan bill (co-authored by Marie Alvarado-Gil D-4 & Juan Alanis R-22) that would repeal Prop 47, with the exception of reduced penalties for cannabis. It is being held up in the CA Assembly Public Safety Committee since it was introduced in Jan of 2023. A majority vote is required to move it out of committee (5 out of 8 votes).
Disclaimer & References:
I’m not a journalist nor a writer and nothing written here is original. The above is merely a condensed summary of what’s already well-written and researched out there, but organized in a way that makes it easier to digest. My focus is awareness and information digestibility.
https://d1.ocgov.com/californias-dangerous-trifecta-ab109-prop-57-and-prop-47
https://www.californiacitynews.org/2022/03/california%E2%80%99s-attorney-general-says-props-47-and-57-may-have-led-increase-crime.html
https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_47,_Reduced_Penalties_for_Some_Crimes_Initiative_(2014)
https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_20,_Criminal_Sentencing,_Parole,_and_DNA_Collection_Initiative_(2020)
https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_57,_Parole_for_Non-Violent_Criminals_and_Juvenile_Court_Trial_Requirements_(2016)
https://www.placer.ca.gov/2024/Assembly-Bill-109-AB-109
https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/regulations/wp-content/uploads/sites/171/2019/09/Prop57-2016-voterguide.pdf
https://post.ca.gov/Data/Sites/1/post_docs/resources/Prop47/OfficialVoterInformationGuideCaliforniaSecretaryofState.pdf
https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2022/01/california-crime-prop47/
https://citrusheightssentinel.com/2023/04/01/sb-316-ca-committee-kills-proposal-to-increase-serial-shoplifting-penalty/