Crime reform measure Prop 36 top of mind for voter, as both sides rally
OAKLAND, Calif. - This November, voters will decide on a tough-on-crime initiative at the ballot box. Proposition 36 would strengthen criminal penalties for repeat offenders for drug and theft crimes.
It would change critical parts of Proposition 47, which critics blame for a surge in retail thefts and brazen flash mob smash-and-grabs.
Since it passed in 2014, shoplifting under $950 became a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.
"Public safety is a non-partisan concern and treatment is what we need," said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.
Mahan joined other elected leaders and the substance recovery community in San Francisco at a ‘Yes on 36’ press conference.
Proposition 36 would reclassify certain thefts and drug offenses under $950 as felonies.
It would also increase prison sentences and create a new category of crime called "treatment-mandated felony," where people who don't contest their charges get substance treatment instead of potential prison time.
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Oakland mayor favors criminal penalties but won't endorse Prop. 36
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said she is not endorsing Prop. 36, the statewide ballot measure that would strengthen penalties for certain theft and drug crimes.
"We need to expand treatment. We're not going back to an era of mass incarceration, we need to enter the era of mass treatment," said Mahan.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has spoken out against Proposition 36, fearing it will in fact bring back mass incarceration, which would be costly.
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights are also against Proposition 36.
"This is going to end up with more black and brown people in cages," Woods told the crowd at a town hall in Oakland Thursday.
"The reason people are feeling unsafe in our community - Prop 36 doesn't address or attack any of that. It's going to send people to prison for committing petty thefts," Woods said.
"The idea that this is going fund treatment, when actually it won't fund treatment," said Ella Baker Center for Human Rights political director Jose Bernal. "It purports that it's going to solve or address homelessness, and it doesn't, it does the opposite. There's no new money attached to this."
The latest state polling shows voters overwhelmingly back the measure with nearly 75% in support of it.