Proposed ballot measure seeks to repeal Proposition 47

A proposed new ballot measure may give Californians a chance to repeal the highly contentious Proposition 47, which lessened the charges associated with non-violent property crimes and drug possession.

"The law made some non-violent property crimes, where the value does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some simple drug possession offenses into misdemeanors," according to the Los Angeles County Public Defender. "It also provides that past convictions for these charges may be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court."

The proposition was passed by voters in 2014, and since then has been a hot button topic for debate amongst Californians, many of whom believe it was the spark in a notable rise in the crime rate and drug use over the past decade. 

"It's been 10 years and we're markedly worse than we were 10 years ago in terms of crime and lawlessness and disorder," said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. "Something's gotta change."

Those who oppose Prop 47 say that it emboldened people who believe they can steal over and over again without facing real consequences. 

"The public has figured out and certainly criminals know that they can steal in California and there's not gonna be any jail time for them. No consequences and they can keep doing it," Hestrin said. 

He's the president of the California District Attorney's Association, which is behind the proposed ballot measure, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, which aims to repeal Prop 47. 

"It returns teeth back into the criminal justice system. It returns consequences."

The act would allow prosecutors to aggregate, or add up, charges so that a third misdemeanor could become a felony and a fourth could come with prison time, which they hope would deter people from repeating crimes. 

A similar set of circumstances would follow drug charges, although a fourth would only come with prison time if the offender refused entry into a drug treatment program. 

"If you go to treatment, the case goes away," Hestrin said. "It's not on your record."

However, people who support the proposition say that the real root of the crime issue is a growing rate of poverty in the United States. 

They also say that the original purpose of Prop 47 was never to reduce theft and drug use, but rather to reduce mass incarceration. 

"We've been able to cut the number of people that are going into prison, increase the number of people that are in careers and enhance our public safety," said Sam Lewis, the CEO of Anti Recidivism Coalition, which uses funds from Prop 47 for prison rehabilitation programs and reentry services. . "It's a red herring, it's a way to scare people to want to change something."

Lewis says that the proposed ballot measure is unnecessary and doesn't target the root of the problem. 

"The driver of mass incarceration is poverty," he said. "The driver, when we look at some of these retail thefts, is poverty. People are struggling so what do we do as a community, as a society, as a government, as a country, to shift that?"

He argues that overall theft is down. Hestrin disagrees, saying its become so commonplace that not every case is reported. 

"Many business owners just don't bother," he said. 

Walmart and Target, two of the United States' largest retail chains, are major funders behind the proposed measure. Both are donating so that they can reach enough supporters to qualify the measure for the ballot in November.