Salas moves to amend troublesome state sentencing law
Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-bakersfield, introduced a bill at the beginning of the Legislature’s new term this week to amend Proposition 47, a referendum repeatedly cited by law enforcement as a source of the state’s high crime rates.
Proposition 47, voted into law by 59.6 percent of voters in 2014, allowed for myriad changes to sentencing requirements. The referendum reclassified grand theft, shoplifting, petty theft and check forgeries as misdemeanors, if the offense resulted in the theft of less than $950.
Salas’ Assembly Bill 1603 amends this portion of the legislation by lowering the threshold for a felony. A suspect must commit more than $400 worth of petty theft or shoplifting to be charged with a felony, reverting to the original threshold before the passage of Proposition 47, Salas’ news release said.
“I’ve been hearing from my constituents and from Californians up and down the entire state about the unintended consequences of Proposition 47,” Salas, D-bakersfield, said to The Californian on Wednesday. “We’re trying to provide relief and support for Californians and for our store employees.” Salas’ office cited a survey done in 2021 by the National Retail Federation regarding the impetus behind the legislation. The survey said 69 percent of retailers saw an increase in organized retail crime during 2021. About 37 percent of the respondents claimed the gangs committing retail theft were more aggressive than in the past.
A representative from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office didn’t offer comment on AB 1603, but said the governor would consider its merits, if it reaches his desk.
“The Administration will continue to focus on new investments that will bolster local law enforcement response and ensure prosecutors hold perpetrators accountable, including funding for state and local efforts to combat organized retail crime and grants for local prosecutors,” Newsom’s spokesperson said.
Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in an email she welcomes any effort to hold “thieves accountable, as Proposition 47 has greatly hampered law enforcement’s ability to do so.” However, she noted AB 1603 doesn’t amend the penalties regarding grand theft.
Will Matthews, a spokesperson with the
Californians for Safety and Justice, which was behind the campaign for voting yes on Proposition 47, said many felony thresholds around the country are higher than in the Golden State.
“This idea that … California (is) some sort of bastion of permissiveness is just not factual and it’s not true,” Matthews said.
At the beginning of the new term Assemblymen Jim Patterson, R-fresno, Kevin Kiley, R-rocklin, and James Gallagher, Ryuba City, introduced AB 1599, which completely repeals Proposition 47. Patterson said Californians are concerned about crimes, which have jumped throughout the state.
“Crime is out of control in California,” Patterson said. “It’s a direct result of taking the penalty from being a felony down to a misdemeanor.”
A preliminary analysis by the independent Public Policy Institute of California examined data from Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco and found increases in violent and property crime throughout 2021. Property crimes, the center noted, have been driven by car break-ins and auto thefts.
The PPIC also reported its researchers don’t have data for rural areas, and the pandemic may have affected “the extent to which crime is reported.”
Voters must approve both pieces of legislation to become law. Before this process, the bills must pass through both houses and receive Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.