That the City Council CONSIDER, APPROVE, AND ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. CC 2024-__ ENTITLED:  A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA HABRA, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE HOMELESSNESS, DRUG ADDICTION, AND THEFT REDUCTION ACT, INITIATIVE NO. 23-0017A1.

During the City Council comments portion of the June 17, 2024, City Council meeting, City Councilmember Medrano requested staff to draft a resolution in support of the Proposition 47 reform initiative that will be on the November 5, 2024, ballot. Councilmember Gomez seconded that request. This staff report is in response to that request and attached is a proposed resolution for City Council consideration in support of the "Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,” Initiative No. 23-0017A1, also known as Prop 36.

BACKGROUND

On November 4, 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47, which reduced certain non-serious and non-violent drug possession and property crimes from felonies and "wobblers" to misdemeanors. A "wobbler" refers to those crimes which can be charged as either felonies or misdemeanors at the discretion of the prosecutor. These reduced penalties applied to individuals who had not committed severe crimes, such as murder, and who were not required to register as sex offenders. Additionally, the measure specified that thefts of property worth $950 or less would be punished as misdemeanors. Previously, some of these crimes could be charged as felonies depending on the type of property taken or the defendant’s prior theft-related convictions.

Moreover, Proposition 47 was part of a broader response to prison overcrowding and a federal mandate requiring California to reduce its prison population. Prior to the passage of Prop 47 the U.S. Supreme Court, in 2011, upheld a ruling by a federal three-judge panel that required the state to reduce overcrowding in its prisons to 137.5% of their “design capacity” within two years. At the time, California’s prisons were operating at roughly 180% of design capacity, which was about 34,000 inmates over the limit set by the panel. The ruling did not specify how the state should achieve this reduction.

In response to that ruling, the Legislature enacted the Public Safety Realignment Act (AB 109), signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on April 4, 2011. This policy shift aimed to alleviate prison overcrowding and reduce the state corrections budget by transferring responsibility for incarcerating and supervising many low-level inmates and parolees from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to local governments.
 
When Proposition 47 was passed in 2014, its intent was to make California’s criminal justice system more equitable. However, its passage has led to unintended consequences over the past decade, including rising, and often organized, retail theft and reduced incentives for individuals to seek drug addiction and mental health treatment. 

Since the approval of Proposition 47 in 2014, legislation has been introduced every year to address various elements of the initiative’s provisions or asking voters to reconsider the measure. Until this year, the Legislature has not advanced these bills through the legislative process.  Since Proposition 47 was enacted as a voter-approved initiative, any significant reform must occur as part of the voter initiative process. 

The “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,” Initiative No. 23-0017A1, is sponsored by the District Attorney’s Association and other law enforcement agencies throughout the state seeking to reform Proposition 47. It has qualified for the November 5, 2024, ballot and is labeled as Prop 36.