Pubdate: Wed, 12 Nov 2014
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority

PUBLIC SAFETY TAKES ANOTHER HIT, COURTESY OF VOTERS

Most mistakes that voters make at the ballot box don't become evident 
for years. That's not the case with Proposition 47, however.

The very week that voters in California approved the measure with 59 
percent of the vote, thousands of prisoners statewide were either 
released or in the process of having their charges reduced.

Felony crimes became misdemeanors for some theft and drug cases, 
which will eventually affect more than 4,000 prisoners.

What were voters thinking? Well, maybe they fell for the deceptive 
title on the ballot for Proposition 47: "The Safe Neighborhoods and 
Schools Act." We're not sure how that biased title got approved, but 
it's inaccurate.

Still, what's done is done. The victory was a landslide. Even in 
Butte County, 54.8 percent voted in favor. More conservative counties 
like Glenn, Tehama, Shasta and Siskiyou voted no, but the state's 
more populated areas easily outweighed the tough-on-crime counties. 
Our editorial board recommend rejection of the proposition, as did 
many other newspapers and law enforcement officials.

The passage of the proposition means that any property theft of less 
than $950 is a misdemeanor, not a felony. You can steal iPads from a 
dozen different people and avoid jail time, apparently. At the same 
time, most drug offenses become misdemeanors.

Heroin addicts who like to steal iPads and mountain bikes are in luck.

The state ballot pamphlet said counties would save money by letting 
people out of jail. That's seems like a farce, unless counties start 
laying off jail employees. We don't expect that.

The proposition said these phantom cost savings would be used for 
mental health and drug rehabilitation programs. Even if funding 
approves for those programs, there's nothing that mandates people who 
get misdemeanors to use them.

In the county's successful drug court and Proposition 36 programs, 
offenders are told to complete the program or go to jail. That's a 
great incentive to complete the program.

Proposition 47, however, doesn't mandate treatment - it only says 
more will be available. And we're certain that people guilty of 
misdemeanors will jump right in there for treatment.

Instead, we're liable to see more thieves committing petty crimes for 
drugs, just as we've seen under the prison realignment plan known as AB109.

With the state of public safety in California, the last thing voters 
should be doing is handing out "Get Out of Jail Free" cards.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom