Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert and Councilmember Mary Zendejas will hold a town hall meeting Friday to discuss Proposition 36, a statewide initiative on the November ballot that, if passed, will have serious implications on how cities handle petty crimes.
Held from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at Altar Society Brewing, the event is open to the public, though officials said in a news release Monday that people are encouraged to RSVP.
Proposition 36, also known as the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, would alter Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot initiative that reclassified possession of heroin, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs as misdemeanors in California. It also raised the threshold to prosecute felony theft from $400 in stolen goods to $950.
Passed a decade ago, Proposition 47 made California the first state to “de-felonize” drug use, with the promise to divert money from punishment toward job training, mental health and drug addiction treatment. It was enacted three years after violent crime in California hit a 45-year low, and as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state’s prison conditions were crowded and dangerous, and ordered their populations to be reduced.
Legislative analysts say the latter has saved the state a half-billion dollars in reducing recidivism and investing in behavioral health programs. California’s $950 threshold between petty and grand theft, meanwhile, remains one of the lowest in the nation.
Under the new measure, some of the changes would be undone.
Legislative analysts said the new measure would turn some theft cases into a felony if the person has two or more convictions for certain theft crimes, punishable by up to three years in county jail or state prison. It would also lengthen felony sentences for theft or property damage if three or more people committed the act together, among other changes.
Dealers whose sales of fentanyl kill or seriously injure a person who uses those drugs could be charged with murder.
Additionally, the measure would allow prosecutors to charge some repeat drug dealers with a “treatment-mandated felony” instead of a misdemeanor.
“These people would generally get treatment, such as mental health or drug treatment,” analysts wrote. “Those who finish treatment would have their charges dismissed. Those who do not finish treatment could serve up to three years in state prison.”
Some of these changes would apply to select inmates serving time in county jail, resulting in their transfer to a state prison.
Analysts predict the state prison population could increase by around a few thousand people, up from the 90,000 currently jailed. The county population — at around 250,000 people — could rise by a few thousand people.
It could also increase the workload seen in the courts and cost the state up to “hundreds of millions of dollars” annually, analysts said.
The measure qualified for the Nov. 5 ballot in April after securing more than 900,000 signatures from California voters.
This comes as public safety and homelessness are expected to be top issues in this election, especially in California. While violent crime statewide remains well below historic peaks of the ‘80s and ‘90s, many will lament the rise in petty crimes and drug possession.
In Long Beach, petty thefts citywide declined from 2017 to 2022 but rose again last year. In the first seven months of 2024, police are seeing an 18.5 increase in petty theft cases.
A previous attempt to change Proposition 47 failed in 2020 after not securing enough votes in the fall election.
Friday’s forum will also address the U.S. Supreme Court 6-3 ruling in favor of Grant’s Pass, Ore., allowing local governments to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces regardless of whether or not shelter beds are available.
Altar Society Brewing is at 230 Pine Ave.