[ExI] Proposition 47 has passed in California

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Mon Nov 10 20:07:41 UTC 2014


On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 2:03 PM, Mirco Romanato wrote:
> I think depenalizing or reducing penalties against drugs users is good,
> but reducing penalties for crimes against persons or properties is not
> good in any way.
>
> Small theft is just a small offense until one thief find someone
> resisting him and he kill or maim him.
> If you increase the first, you increase the latter and neither is good.
>
>

That's the 'broken windows' / 'zero tolerance' theory of how minor
crimes should be dealt with.
What California has found is that jailing minor offenders for long
periods is costing the state millions of dollars that they would
rather not spend. So, as the population object to the increased taxes
that would be required, an alternative had to be found.

Quote:
This measure reduces penalties for certain offenders convicted of
non-serious and non-violent property and drug crimes.
------

Crimes against the person will still get jail time. So Prop 47 may
well reduce violent crime as minor criminals see a way to avoid jail.

But societies all around the world are trying to find the best way to
deal with crime. Jailing everyone isn't the best solution. Especially
as it can be seen as the richer half of society victimising the poorer
half of society. There is enough unfairness already without making
being poor into a criminal offence.

BillK



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