California voters are facing a decision on how the state should punish people who have been repeatedly convicted of theft or crimes involving the deadly drug fentanyl. Proposition 36, which will be on the November ballot, asks voters to change certain parts of Proposition 47, which passed in 2014 and turned some nonviolent felonies into misdemeanors.

Here's what you need to know about how this year's bill, if passed, would change the law Californians approved a decade ago.

Why did Proposition 47 happen?

In May 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision against California. Required Preventing overcrowding by reducing prison populations: A three-judge federal court panel ordered all California state prisons to reduce their inmates to 137.5% of their “design capacity” within two years. In the 2010s, state prisons were operating at more than 180% of their capacity, housing about 34,000 inmates more than the federal court-imposed limit.

State lawmakers approved a bill known as “realignment” that would change how the state prosecutes minor, non-serious crimes, allowing some offenders to serve their sentences in county jails instead of state prison.

Liberal advocacy groups promoted Proposition 47 as another way to reduce prison populations and direct more funds toward drug treatment and victim services.

How did Proposition 47 of 2014 change California law?

Proposition 47 had three main components: reducing some felonies to misdemeanors, allowing prisoners serving time for crimes that were reduced to misdemeanors to receive reduced sentences, and redirecting the money saved from reduced incarceration into community services.

Proposition 47 reclassified some felonies so that individuals who commit certain nonviolent drug and property crimes, such as shoplifting where items worth less than $950 are stolen and simple drug possession, can be convicted of misdemeanors instead of felonies. Before Proposition 47 went into effect, prosecutors charged many of these crimes as misdemeanors, but some were considered “wobblers” and could be charged as misdemeanors or felonies. Those convicted of misdemeanors still faced up to one year in county jail. Proposition 47 did not apply to people previously convicted of serious or violent crimes, nor did it apply to registered sex offenders.

Proposition 47 allowed more than 1 million people to have old, low-level, nonviolent felonies on their records reduced to misdemeanors, but the mechanism to do that under Proposition 47 expired in November 2022. According to the State Judicial Council: State law allows for later petitions for review only if “good cause” can be shown. Californians for Safety and Justice, a criminal justice advocacy group that was one of the bill's lead sponsors, said it estimates there are thousands of inmates still eligible for review and that a measure to extend the deadline indefinitely is scheduled for a vote in August.

The bill passed with more than 1.3 million votes. Prominent supporters at the time included social justice groups such as the California Institute for Safe Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union, and was funded in large part by the Five major charitable foundations Groups that opposed the bill include the Bay Area social justice group Rosenberg Foundation, George Soros and his Open Society Foundations, and the Ford Foundation. Groups that opposed the bill include the California Association of Police Chiefs and other law enforcement agencies, the district attorneys of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and former state representative and current Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper.

Since 2014, the state has had approximately $100 million per year This is the result of sentencing changes under Proposition 47. These funds went towards victim services, mental health and substance use services.

What is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony?

A misdemeanor is a lesser crime than a felony. A person convicted of a misdemeanor typically serves their sentence in a county jail for up to one year. In California, county jails are overseen by the local sheriff's department. Other penalties for a misdemeanor conviction include supervision by a probation officer and fines.

A felony is defined as a violent or serious crime. These crimes include murder, robbery, rape, etc. A person convicted of a felony may be sentenced to county jail and community supervision, or to state prison.

How will Proposition 36 change things this year?

Proposition 36 It would impose mandatory drug treatment for some drug offenses, add new penalties for some theft and drug offenses, and add new sentencing enhancements that would apply to all crimes.

Drugs

Possession of illegal drugs for personal use is typically prosecuted as a misdemeanor. addition Fentanyl was added to the list of hard drugs, such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, that are already considered felonies depending on the amount sold and whether the person possesses a firearm during the drug trafficking. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. 100 times more powerful It is more powerful than morphine and is used to treat severe pain under the supervision of a qualified medical professional. In recent years, illegal fentanyl has been smuggled into the United States, and more common street drugs such as cocaine have been known to be laced with lethal amounts of fentanyl. California has seen an increase in drug-related deaths, 3,946 people It has been determined that 2,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses in California alone in 2020.

Under Proposition 36, if a person possesses hard drugs and has already been convicted of two or more drug-related crimes, a judge can sentence that person to up to three years in state prison, regardless of the amount possessed. The measure allows a judge to determine whether the person is eligible for treatment and can participate in a felony that requires treatment in lieu of incarceration.

If he successfully completes drug treatment, the charges will be dropped.

The bill would allow judges to send convicted drug traffickers who trafficked large quantities of hard drugs, including fentanyl, or who possessed a firearm while trafficking drugs to state prison instead of county jail. The bill would also make it a felony if someone is found with such drugs and a firearm four times. Under current law, certain drugs can be charged as felonies in these situations. The bill would add fentanyl to that list.

Proposition 36 would allow tougher penalties for hard drug dealers who sell fentanyl that kills or seriously injures users, and it would give judges the power to warn convicted dealers that they could face future murder charges if the drugs they sell result in a death.

theft

Under Prop. 36, theft of money or property under $950 would be punished as a felony for someone who has been convicted of a theft-related crime more than once. The measure also allows prosecutors to bring felony charges if someone is accused of multiple thefts that total more than $950. Theft convictions would also be taken into account. Someone who committed two misdemeanor theft of property years ago could also be charged with a felony if they commit theft a third time after Prop. 36 goes into effect.

cost

Proposition 47 helped the state save about $100 million a year in prison spending, instead allocating funds to victim services and reentry programs. Those savings will likely decline, the nonpartisan Legislative Analysis Service wrote. In the analysisThe new ballot measure would mean that the more people incarcerated, the less funding would be allocated to those public services.

The analyst's office also said the state would experience increased costs in two other ways. First, some inmates currently serving their sentences at the county level would have to serve their sentences in state prison, increasing the prison population by several thousand. Second, costs from increased workloads as courts take extra time to resolve felonies and expedite those with treatment obligations.

If voters pass Prop. 36, what parts of Prop. 47 would remain intact?

Drugs

Before Prop. 47, possession of any weight of drugs was known as simple drug possession and was considered a felony or misdemeanor. After Prop. 47 passed, simple drug possession became a misdemeanor. Under Prop. 36, the first two convictions for simple drug possession would be charged as a misdemeanor, but a third conviction would be charged as a felony and would land you in jail or prison.

theft

Since Proposition 47, nonviolent theft of property under $950 is generally prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

Under Prop. 36, the first two thefts under $950 would remain misdemeanors, similar to Prop. 47, but a third theft conviction would be considered a felony and subject to prison time, regardless of whether the theft was under $950.

Re-sentencing

While Proposition 36 doesn’t explicitly change anything about the resentencing rules, policy analysts have noted that certain individuals may not be eligible for resentencing under the new measures.