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Stay the Course With Prop 47 for Real Criminal Justice Reform

by Steve Pleich (spleich [at] gmail.com)
Critics Off the Mark
There has been much talk over the last few years about the idea of “Smart Solutions” to address everything from homelessness to campaign finance reform. But despite intense and, in my opinion unsubstantiated, criticism of Proposition 47, it continues to be a truly “smart solution” for long sought after criminal justice reform. In my view, this eminently practical revision to our system of criminal justice effectively addresses an antiquated policy of harsher penalties that is neither practical nor socially meaningful. I firmly believe that, if we stay the course, the modest reforms embodied in Prop 47 offer a chance for real and lasting criminal justice reform.

As passed by the Legislature, the measure reduces certain non-serious and nonviolent property offenses from "wobblers" (offenses that can be alternately charged as misdemeanors or felonies) or felonies to a class of offenses that can only be charged as misdemeanors. The measure limits these reduced penalties to offenders who have not committed certain severe crimes listed in the measure, including murder and certain sex and gun crimes. It specifically addresses low level theft and property crimes like shoplifting, grand theft, receiving stolen property and check fraud which continue to clog our courts when prosecuted as felonies and which prosecutions impede the effort to create forward thinking models of Restorative Justice. The measure also reduces penalties for certain offenders convicted of non-serious and nonviolent drug crimes and allows offenders who have been previously convicted of such crimes to apply for reduced sentences. This is particularly wise and timely policy in light of the wholesale de-funding of our local drug court.

Additionally, and this is nowhere mentioned by the critics of Prop 47, the measure requires any savings that result from the application of this measure be annually transferred from the General Fund into a new state fund called the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund. Monies in the fund are earmarked for truancy prevention, victim services and mental health and drug abuse treatment services designed to help keep individuals out of prison and jail.

And here’s where the true wisdom of Prop 47 shines through. For decades, the policies underlying the criminal justice system in California have undergone mind numbing and common sense defying pendulum swings between the need for incarceration and the desire for rehabilitation. The only consistent consideration has been the protection of victims’ right and that is as it should be. But our steadfast determination to impose consequences on those accused of criminal behavior has rendered us singularly unable as a society to understand and address the causes of that behavior.

And let me pause here to say this about the local application of Prop 47. Any suggestion that a rise in our property crime rate is connected to or caused by the implementation of this measure is simply not supported by the facts. While many members of our community labor under the false assumption that Prop 47 has loosed into our community an army of petty criminals, the truth is that the increase in property crime is more a function of pervasive poverty in our society and reflects the ever-widening chasm between the haves and the have-nots. Until we address the fact that much of our wealth is held by the very few, and until we make a real commitment to providing our prospective job seekers and the working poor with a true living wage, a continued increase in property crime is a sad certainty.

The programs made possible by Prop 47 will pave the way for models of Restorative Justice that can be the foundation of an enlightened criminal justice system. It is time in California to swing the pendulum of public policy away from arrest and incarceration and toward rehabilitation and support. The continued and full-throated support for Prop 47 is a “smart" step in that direction.
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