Sean Belk
Staff Writer
Under a controversial state ballot measure passed by voters in the November election, police officers now have more to consider before putting someone in jail for certain low-level nonviolent crimes, such as simple drug possession or petty theft, and prosecutors have less discretion on how long to keep someone there.
Intended to further reduce California’s overcrowded prison population, Proposition 47 went into effect the day after it passed in the Nov. 4 statewide election with 59.6 percent of the vote in favor.
The measure reduces penalties for non-serious and non-violent drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors except for registered sex offenders and persons previously convicted of rape, murder or child molestation, considered “super strike” convictions.
With the proposition’s passage, thousands of cases that would normally be handled by county district attorney (DA) offices as felonies have been reclassified as misdemeanors, subject to shorter jail sentences regardless of a person’s criminal background, excluding sex offenders and individuals with super-strike convictions.
Previously, DA offices considered a defendant’s background and the circumstances of the crime before determining whether a drug case or theft case should be pursued as a felony or misdemeanor, considered a “wobbler.”
Now, however, DAs, including the Los Angeles DA’s office, have no discretion for the vast majority of drug and theft crimes, and they can only be pursued as misdemeanors, according to local officials.
The measure forces cities that handle their own prosecutions to now take on additional misdemeanor cases, many of which may involve criminals with long rap sheets.
However, county jails will likely become even more crowded with the additional effects of AB 109, legislation passed in 2011 known as public-safety realignment that moved responsibility for monitoring, tracking and jailing offenders of certain crimes from the State to counties. As a result, some individuals convicted of misdemeanors may have their sentence reduced further or won’t have to serve time at all.
In addition, since the measure is retroactive, reducing previous felony cases to misdemeanor cases will likely result in the early release of thousands more prisoners.
In many instances, cities will have to take on more caseloads to deal with the increase in misdemeanors that have been reclassified from felonies.
In the city of Long Beach, for instance, the city prosecutor’s office estimates that it will see a 15-percent increase in caseloads, or 2,000 more cases each year, under the new criminal-justice structure, said City Prosecutor Doug Haubert in a phone interview.
He added that the City might see even more cases, since, under Proposition 47, the city will likely see an increase in “recidivism” or repeat crimes and criminals coming in and out of the justice system. In addition, Haubert said these new cases will likely take more time and costs to prosecute since they represent some of the more “serious offenses” the City handles.
“We’re already looking at the rap sheets, and we’re seeing some very dangerous people being ! taken to misdemeanor court instead of prosecuted for felony,” he said.
Proposition 47 aims to create “hundreds of millions of dollars” in savings by reducing the number of incarcerated people, according to ballot information. These savings would be allocated to school truancy and dropout prevention, mental-health and substance abuse treatment, and victim services throughout the state.
Still, Haubert said it’s uncertain whether the savings will be realized or whether the added costs for handling more cases will be a “wash” for local prosecutors and jailers.
“Prop 47 is making law enforcement and prosecutors and others involved in the judicial system look at crime in a different way,” he said. “It’s too early to say whether Prop 47 will benefit the state or be a catastrophe on a large scale. I’m going to be watching very carefully if there are any savings or if this ends up costing taxpayers a lot of money.”
Another impact of Proposition 47 is the possible elimination of “drug court,” which locally is handled by the Superior Court in Long Beach and gives individuals the option to take drug treatment or counseling, such as rehab, instead of serving jail time.
Since jail sentences are being reduced, defense attorneys are already advising defendants to plead guilty rather than take the chance of having to return to court, since failing to appear in court could result in a felony with higher sentencing.
It’s anticipated, however, that with less defendants expected to take the drug court option, savings from Proposition 47 would help continue funding for drug-treatment programs.
Additionally, the measure also impacts the way law enforcement handles cases out in the field since police officers will now have to take into account a person’s criminal history before arresting and taking the accused into custody for certain drug-possession offenses or theft crimes.
In some cases, officers will likely only give a person a citation with a court date for offenses that previously would have required an arrest. Proposition 47 also reduces penalties from felony to misdemeanor for petty theft, receiving stolen property and forging/writing bad checks when the property is worth $950 or less.
Additionally, the measure creates a new crime category, known as shoplifting, a misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail, rather than commercial burglary, which could have been charged as a felony or misdemeanor.
Signal Hill Police Chief Michael Langston said the long-term impacts of Proposition 47 are still uncertain. However, he said in Signal Hill a number of big-box retailers, such as Target, Home Depot and Costco, might see an increase in shoplifting since the measure has reduced penalties for certain property-theft crimes.
“While in some cases people that shoplift are first-time or second-time offenders, oftentimes offenders of these crimes are career criminals or members of organized retail-theft rings that are not going to see the stiff penalties that they would have before,”
Langston said, adding that the City of Signal Hill contracts with the LA County DA’s office for prosecutions.
He added that city prosecutors in Long Beach and Los Angeles are already “scrambling” to hire new attorneys to take over the increased caseloads that were previously handled by the DA’s office.
He said the City is working on a study with regard to the impacts of AB 109 on the community and recidivism of post-AB 109 early-release prisoners.
At its Dec. 2 meeting, the Signal Hill City Council approved the acceptance of $46,972 for a part-time emergency services coordinator. The funds were allocated by the State after lobbying efforts by the California Police Chiefs Association, California State Sheriff’s Association and California League of Cities for the State to offset the costs of AB 109 to local law-enforcement agencies.
Langston said that since county jails are now becoming crowded because of AB 109, convictions will likely come with little to no jail time, which he said wouldn’t necessarily reduce crime.
“The county jail doesn’t have the capacity to have someone convicted of a misdemeanor, so the penalties are probably going to be probation,” he said. “Who knows what the case may be? I don’t think you will see many people for most of these crimes serving any real time in custody compared to what they might have previously.”
Langston said the immediate impact for the Signal Hill Police Department is that officers now have to consider criminal background history before taking anyone into custody for certain drug and theft crimes. However, he said it’s still too early to determine the long-term impacts of Proposition 47.
“It’s kind of early,” Langston said. “We’ll see how it plays out! It’s a pretty significant change to our criminal justice system, so it’s going to take a lot, just like AB 109. It’s going to take some time to really sort through it and see what the long-range impact is. My concern is reducing the penalty is not going to reduce the crime.”
