California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36 on Tuesday, capping a chaotic 10 months of bargaining and wrangling at the state Capitol where Democratic leaders unsuccessfully sought to preserve a decade of criminal justice reform.
Instead, the campaign to increase penalties for theft and repeated convictions for drug possession looks won out.
Proposition 36, opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, reclassiffies some misdemeanor theft and drug crimes as felonies.
The measure also creates a new category of crime — a “treatment-mandated felony.” People who don’t contest criminal charges after multiple drug possession convictions could complete drug treatment instead of going to prison, but if they don’t finish treatment, they still face up to three years in prison.
Property crime spiked in California after the pandemic while the state, counties and local governments have struggled to contain and control sidewalk encampments of homeless people.
Prop. 36 was pitched by its supporters as an answer to those concerns. Led by the retail industry, those supporters pledged that the measure would target drug traffickers and people who commit multiple acts of retail theft.