[Politics / Economics]California criminal justice battle intensifies with reformers’ counteroffensive

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Criminal justice reform advocates are mobilizing to thwart a ballot initiative that would reverse California’s recent turn away from tougher criminal penalties. The counteroffensive signals that those advocates fear the initiative to crack down drug and property crimes, backed by prosecutors and major retailers, has a strong chance of landing on the November ballot. If it does, it could unravel a series of recent political victories seeking to overhaul sentencing and incarceration.A six-figure digital advertising campaign, funded by some of the same groups and people that have championed lighter criminal penalties, urges Californians to reject the tough-on-crime ballot measure and instead push for changes in the Legislature. It notes that the campaign has been funded by major corporations like Target, Home Depot, and Walmart, and backed by Republicans like Rep. Kevin Kiley. “It’s a dangerous scam that will not work,” the group said in a statement. “It will only set California’s progress back decades, making us less safe.” A newly launched committee supporting the advertising campaign has reported donations from Quinn Delaney and Stacy Schusterman, who have together poured millions into California prosecutor and crime ballot measure campaigns, and an organization whose leader, Tinisch Hollins, has championed efforts to reduce criminal penalties. The escalating battle marks another chapter in California’s long struggle over criminal justice. After setting the tone for a national era of mass incarceration, the increasingly liberal state has shifted markedly in the other direction over the last decade.

Voters passed ballot initiatives in 2014 and 2016 that downgraded some drug and property crimes to misdemeanors and allowed for earlier releases from prison, and in 2020 they rejected a ballot measure that sought to restore some of those penalties. Gov. Gavin Newsom urged voters to vote no on that measure, and his current chief of staff ran the opposition campaign.More recently, Newsom and Democratic lawmakers have rebuffed calls to revisit those past ballot initiatives, instead advancing a package of bills targeting repeat or organized retail theft, enhancing penalties for selling fentanyl, and making it easier to prosecute car thieves. But the ballot measure’s backers believe enduring public frustration with retail crime and public drug use have shifted the landscape significantly since the 2020 measure failed, increasing the public’s appetite for more stringent penalties. They have raised more than $7 million and, in a sign that the idea could resonate with California’s overwhelmingly Democratic electorate, they have won endorsements from San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, both Democra

Topic Source :https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/06/california-criminal-justice-reform-00150875