A suite of state bills aimed at curtailing shoplifting, “smash-and-grab robberies” and fentanyl trafficking hangs in the balance amid a partisan fight over a ballot measure covering the same ground.
Democrats argue the ballot measure would undo some aspects of California’s criminal justice reforms that should remain in place, even while reinstating harsher penalties for theft. They are trying to pass laws to protect public safety without imposing unfair punishments, and say the ballot measure conflicts with that.
But many of them think that if the ballot measure passes, the legislation should be rescinded. And they are considering ways to kill their own bills if the initiative is successful.
Republicans have started calling those “poison pill amendments.” They claim it’s an effort to erode support for the initiative, or force proponents to pull it from the ballot.
“These poison pill amendments are a cynical attempt to mislead voters,” state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, told me.
Organized theft has been on Californians’ minds, and San Diego has had its share. Two weeks ago four suspects were arrested and charged in San Diego for allegedly stealing $1.5 million in jewelry. In March a theft “queenpin” was arrested at her San Diego home on suspicion of leading a ring that stole $8 million in luxury makeup and then resold it on Amazon
What the bills do to fix that: The bipartisan package includes Assembly and Senate bills. Some would add treatment for drug addiction, boost prevention, and prevent illegal use of the animal tranquilizer Xylazine.
Another set of bills would make sweeping changes to prosecution of retail theft. That’s where the conflict lies.
One of the major complaints with the law as it stands is that theft of relatively low-value items is considered a misdemeanor. But what about stealing a bunch of little things? The bills would allow prosecutors to combine or “aggregate” multiple related thefts that cumulatively exceed the $950 limit for felony charges, even if they were committed in different counties or against different victims.
The new laws would also enable retailers to report crimes directly to their district attorneys and authorize restraining orders against people arrested multiple times at a retail store.
The bills target sale of stolen goods through online marketplaces by requiring certification of third-party sellers, and banning sellers suspected of crimes from using the platforms. And they would add higher penalties for professional organized retail theft.
On a parallel track: There’s a related crime initiative backed by district attorneys, law enforcement, big retailers and the Republican Party.
The ballot measure tackles retail theft and stiffens penalties for trafficking fentanyl. It aims to roll back parts of Prop. 47, the 2014 initiative that switched some felonies to misdemeanors.
The new initiative would create a class of “treatment-mandated felonies” for repeated drug possession. It would permit judges to sentence large-scale or armed drug dealers to state prison instead of county jail, and boost penalties for dealers whose drug trafficking kills or injures someone.
It would also raise penalties for shoplifting and allow multiple smaller thefts to be charged together. Repeat offenders could be charged with felonies, and judges could order jail time or even prison for four or more offenses. It allows stiffer punishment for organized theft over $50,000.
Sounds like they’re on the same page? Nope. Earlier this week, some Democrats argued the ballot measure would reinstate enforcement practices that left thousands of low-level offenders confined to state prisons.
Legislators wanted to come up with a “meaningful response to the growing crisis of retail crime plaguing communities, but we wanted to do that without a wholesale rollback in the criminal justice reforms,” said Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Los Angeles, chair of the Select Committee on Retail Theft.
The initiative conflicts with parts of the legislation, Democratic leaders maintain, so it has to be one or the other.
“We should solve our crime problem with carefully considered legislation,” Rivas said at a press conference Monday. “Not through blunt force, but informed fixes.”
The dueling press conferences included some partisan jabs. State Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, called Republican complaints “hogwash,” and swiped at the party’s law-and-order bonafides, noting that it’s poised to nominate a convicted felon for president.
“As someone who grew up on a farm, I’m very familiar with what hogwash is,” Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, swatted back.
Meanwhile Republicans are urging Democratic colleagues to back both the bills and the ballot measure.
“We can do both; we need to do both,” Jones said. “Republicans supported the bill package because it’s a step in the right direction. But they’re not nearly enough.”
As of Thursday the amendments had not been added, and a few Democratic lawmakers have said they wouldn’t support them. State legislators are looking toward June 27, the date when initiatives must be qualified or withdrawn from the ballot. You can read more about this fight in Cal Matters and Politico.
State of Black California
Members of the California Legislative Black Caucus and California Black Freedom Fund will launch their “State of Black California” tour with a kickoff at Crawford High School in San Diego Saturday. The event is aimed at “community members, policymakers, grassroots advocates, and business leaders.” It will provide data on challenges facing Black communities, details on the reparations legislation package and ways to get involved. Assemblymember Akilah Weber, D-La Mesa, is hosting the event, which will include speakers such as California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Moreno Valley, and others.
Judge Halts UC Worker Strikes Over Gaza Protests
Last Friday an Orange County Superior Court Judge ordered striking workers at UC campuses back to work. The staff members, including teaching assistants and researchers, argued that campus arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters and a delayed response to a counter-protest at UCLA constituted an unfair labor practice. The universities said the strike was a political protest of the war in Gaza, and therefore prohibited under the union’s contract. We examined how the campus protests have tested the limits of campus free speech in the Sacramento Report last month. And a recent KPBS story explores the journey of UC San Diego students who began their college experience during the pandemic, and are ending it amid campus upheaval.
The Sacramento Report runs every Friday and is part of a partnership with CalMatters. Do you have tips, ideas or questions? Send them to me at deborah@voiceofsandiego.org.
If you steal you should go to jail.
I think the politicians that organized this legislature are the slimiest people around. They knew the public was unhappy with prop 47 and did nothing about it. They made the public go to the trouble and expense to get an initiative on the ballot before they would act. I guess this is their idea of “leading”.