Posted on 12/15/2014 11:32:33 PM PST by smokingfrog
STOCKTON — Law enforcement officials and defense attorneys in San Joaquin County remain divided over a controversial law that was approved by California voters in the November election.
Proposition 47, also known as the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,” has reduced several felony crimes to misdemeanor offenses, resulting in lesser penalties for certain drug possession and property crimes. Voters approved the law with nearly 60 percent of the vote, but 22 of the state’s 58 counties voted against it, including San Joaquin, Calaveras and Amador counties.
The law calls for misdemeanor sentences for drug possession, petty theft, receiving stolen property and check forgery when the amount involved is less than $950 except when the accused has a previous conviction for crimes such as murder, rape or child molestation. It also requires resentencing for people serving felony sentences for offenses that have been reclassified as misdemeanors.
“I think there’s going to be some frustration with the public in learning that certain things are no longer felonies and, in certain circumstances, an offender could receive just a citation and be sent on their way instead of being booked into jail,” San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore said. “We share their frustration, but it’s the law.”
Proponents claim Prop. 47 will ease overcrowding in prisons and save hundreds of millions of dollars each year, savings that will be applied to mental health and drug treatment programs, K-12 schools and crime victim assistance. Critics contend it will make 10,000 convicted felons eligible for early release, saying many are recidivist offenders with violent criminal histories.
(Excerpt) Read more at recordnet.com ...
Welcome to prison world.
Parts of this law seem reasonable to me.
IMO only violent criminals should be imprisoned. The rest should do community service by working on a security wall between the US and Mexico. Pay them minimum wage and house them in old FEMA trailers for a few months. Hard work is a good punishment and one not soon forgotten.
Draw a picture of a gun? Now that is a hangin’.
All the more reason to have a CCW permit and USE IT.
I support it. Prison space should be reserved for people who commit serious crimes against people/property.
Does it make it sense to throw someone in jail for a small bounced check, a small amount of marijuana or petty theft? Of course not.
In those cases, a fine/restitution is a more appropriate punishment than locking someone up for a minor offense. And the voters agreed.
Its not being soft on crime; its reserving expensive jail space for those who truly deserve to be there. People who are accused of rape, assault, kidnapping, murder, major theft, serious forgery and financial crimes and drug trafficking and terrorism.
That way we can protect society by employing law enforcement and justice system resources in an appropriate, compassionate and cost-effective manner.
The legal and easy way of dealing with a surfeit of prisoners is to use the Joe Arpaio “tent jail” system. It is definitely neither cruel nor unusual, by international law, yet it costs a fraction of “brick” jails. And they can be erected just about anywhere.
California has a huge amount of desert that could easily house hundreds of thousands of prisoners in uncrowded conditions, surrounded by two chain link fences with concertina wire on top, with water and food trucked in.
The prisoners sleep in big tents, eat in big tents, get any needed medical care and other services in big tents. And they might have to walk 20 miles on dirt road just to get to a paved road, so even if they escape, there is nowhere to go.
Ironically, prisoners that are troublemakers, need to appear in court, or have family or medical problems aren’t sent to the tent jails. They stay in the brick jails. The tent jails are for trustees, and they are there as a reward for good behavior. They get fresh air, sunshine, and much less noise.
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