Free Republic

Certain 2024 election results in California took many by surprise. The Golden State's residents, for example, rejected another term for progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, backed by billionaire George Soros. They also overwhelmingly voted — at more than 70% — in favor of Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, which seeks to undo portions of Proposition 47 from 2014 by increasing penalties for some crimes. The proposition, which took effect Dec. 18, will allow felony charges to be filed against those possessing certain drugs and those who commit thefts under $950. Additionally, people...

California conditioned these shoplifters to not worry about getting caught. I love their reaction when they find out that the law has changed.

Man ‘piggybacking’ BART gates leads to gun, drug charges A man who was stopped by BART police after allegedly “piggybacking” the Civic Center station gates behind a paying commuter faces multiple gun and drug charges...Martinez Guillory, 51, allegedly exited the San Francisco BART station gates without paying... After being detained by a BART Police Department officer, court documents said a search of Guillory’s backpack uncovered:9 mm Glock 26 semi-automatic pistolPistol magazine loaded with 17 rounds of ammunitionSuspected heroin (105.3 grams)Cocaine (39.6 grams)Cocaine base (59.4 grams)Packaging materialDigital scaleDA Jenkins announced formal charges Friday, including possession of a firearm by a felon,...

It’s morning in California again. Or at least early afternoon. The streets are still filled with bums and their patrons are running the state, but at least stealing is somewhat illegal again.Career criminals are discovering that the right side of history is no longer on the side of the thieves.A new California law that had overwhelming support from voters is now on the books. Prop 36 charges people with a felony after a third arrest.Law enforcement is already making arrests and putting people in jail.“After the passage of Prop 36, we now have the ability, with two previous convictions, even...

California voters approved a ballot measure that would reclassify some misdemeanor theft and drug crimes as felonies, essentially undoing a previous ballot measure that big-box retailers and law enforcement officials have long blamed for increases in theft, property crime and homelessness. Voters approved state Proposition 36 by a whopping margin of 40 percentage points, or 70.6% to 29.4%, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s general election. The ballot measure needed only a simple majority (50% plus one vote) to pass. The race was called by the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle shortly after 9 p.m. (The Chronicle...

LOS ANGELES - A group of teens robbed a 7-Eleven in Hollywood earlier this week, leaving a store employee injured. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the robbery occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday at the 7-Eleven off Wilcox Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. Police said that a group of approximately eight suspects, believed to be between the ages of 16 and 20, entered the store and started grabbing and opening bags of chips. The teens were then confronted by the store clerk before they were seen on video assaulting the employee. The suspects ran from the store, with one...

Prop 30: Your Wallet or Your Kids. NO Either approve $36 billion in higher sales and income taxes or else Gov. Brown threatens to shoot the schools. Don't worry, the income taxes are only on the "very wealthy," but it turns out the "very wealthy" include many small businesses filing under sub-chapter S, meaning lower wages, higher prices and fewer jobs. California already has one of the highest overall tax burdens in the country and yet has just approved a budget to spend $8 billion dollars more than it's taking in. Moral of the story: it's the spending stupid. Prop...

November 2012 Statewide Ballot Measures Proposition 30 Initiative Constitutional Amendment 1578. (12-0009) - Final Random Sample Update - 06/20/12 Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. Guaranteed Local Public Safety Funding. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Qualified: 06/20/12 Proponent: Thomas A. Willis c/o Karen Getman (510) 346-6200 Increases personal income tax on annual earnings over $250,000 for seven years. Increases sales and use tax by ¼ cent for four years. Allocates temporary tax revenues 89 percent to K-12 schools and 11 percent to community colleges. Bars use of funds for administrative costs, but provides local school governing boards discretion to decide, in open meetings...

Character actor Tom Sizemore will have to go to drug treatment, but he will not have to spend any further time in jail under the terms of a plea agreement he made Wednesday on drug charges. Sizemore and Jason Salcido, the man he was with when he was arrested in Bakersfield in May, pleaded no contest to a charge of transporting drugs for personal use. Sizemore will be placed in Proposition 36, a drug therapy program. But if he fails to stay off drugs he could face four years in prison. His attorney, H.A. Sala, said Sizemore will be released...

With offenders failing to enroll in or complete treatment, the initiative is a 'get out of jail free' card, critics say. The most comprehensive assessment of California's landmark effort to treat drug users rather than jail them has found that nearly half of offenders sentenced under the program fail to complete rehab and more than a quarter never show up for treatment. The high failure rates have prompted a growing number of critics to call for jail sanctions for defendants they say take advantage of the program's lack of penalties. Voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36 in November 2000. Under the...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a measure Wednesday that rewrites a voter-approved initiative to allow short-term jail sentences for drug offenders who fail to complete court-ordered treatment programs. Senate Bill 1137 changes the provisions of Proposition 36, the 2000 initiative voters approved to require treatment instead of prison for certain nonviolent drug offenders. Three out of four of those sentenced to treatment under Proposition 36 never show up for their court-ordered programs, or they fail to complete them. A task force of prosecutors, judges, public defenders and treatment providers drafted the bill in the hope that short-term jail sentences would get...

LOS ANGELES -- Oliver Hamilton says he wasn't afraid of jail: He was afraid of change. Two years ago, the San Diego Navy veteran overcame his fears and his 36-year drug and alcohol addiction with the help of Proposition 36, the ballot measure requiring treatment instead of prison for nonviolent drug offenders. Today, the 49-year-old warehouse manager is fighting a bill the governor plans to sign this week that rewrites the initiative. It would allow judges to impose short-term jail sentences for recalcitrant drug offenders who refuse to comply with their court-ordered treatment. "Really, no addict is afraid of jail,"...

Drug offenders steered into treatment programs instead of jail under provisions set by Proposition 36 in 2000 were more likely to be rearrested for drug-related crimes than defendants who went through non-Prop. 36 treatments, according to a study released today. UCLA researcher David Farabee said that Prop. 36 participants were 48 percent more likely to be rearrested for drug-related crimes within a year of starting treatment. Prop. 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, places first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders into county-supervised drug treatment programs instead of jails and prisons. Its supporters argued in 2000 that incarceration without...