Tipsheet

California Voters Turn the Page on Lawlessness

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  November 06, 2024 9:00 AM

California voters embraced law and order on Tuesday, voting to approve Proposition 36, which will impose harsher penalties for drug crimes and repeat theft.

The measure, which was opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, was overwhelmingly supported by Golden State residents, who have grown tired of increased lawlessness in the state. At the time of writing, half the votes were in showing more than 70 percent support for its approval.

Proposition 36 will make it a felony for someone to steal merchandise of any value after two previous offenses and can lead to longer jail or prison sentences. 

The ballot measure also allows judges to sentence convicted drug dealers who traffic in large quantities of hard drugs, including fentanyl, or who are armed with a gun while trafficking the drugs to state prison instead of county jails. It will also create a “treatment-mandated felony” as a new category of crime, by giving some eligible drug offenders an option for treatment instead of jail time.

The measure undoes key parts of a 2014 ballot measure, Proposition 47, which voters overwhelmingly passed during a time when the state Democratic leaders sought reverse what they argued was an ineffective tough-on-crime era that swelled the state’s prison population to unconstitutional levels. (Los Angeles Times)

In an additional win for law and order, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was defeated, with voters giving his challenger Nathan Hochman a decisive win. 

“While the final votes haven’t been tallied, all indications are the voices of the residents of LA County have been heard and they’re saying enough is enough of George [Gascon’s] policies and they look forward to a safer future,” Hochman said.

Gascón ousted veteran Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey in 2020, riding a wave of national anguish over the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, he has been the target of two failed recall attempts and found himself a pariah among his own prosecutors: More than 20 of them have sued him, alleging they were demoted or otherwise retaliated against for challenging his policies.

Gascón imposed sweeping changes on his first day in office. Prosecutors were barred from seeking the death penalty or trying juveniles as adults; a host of misdemeanors were no longer to be prosecuted; and in an attempt to combat prison crowding, he pushed diversion programs and less-punitive sentences.

A judge ruled that one of Gascón’s signature policies was illegal just three months into his term. His handling of some cases — most notably the prosecution of Hannah Tubbs, a 26-year-old woman tried as a juvenile for a sex assault she committed when she was 17 — sparked national uproar and forced him to walk back some of his all-or-nothing positions.

Hochman has promised to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty again in limited circumstances. He has also said prosecutors will be able to broadly pursue sentencing enhancements again, which can add years of prison time for defendants accused of using guns in crimes or committing offenses on behalf of a gang. (Los Angeles Times)


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