California Deals Criminal Justice Reform a Punishing Blow

California voters dealt a blow to the state’s decade-long experiment with progressive criminal justice reform by approving a tough-on-crime ballot measure and ousting a high-profile progressive prosecutor in the state’s most populous county.

Preliminary results show Golden State voters overwhelmingly embraced Proposition 36, a statewide ballot measure to increase penalties for certain retail theft and drug crimes. The measure rolls back parts of Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that reduced sentencing for a host of nonviolent crimes.

In liberal Los Angeles County, voters rejected progressive incumbent George Gascón, electing Republican-turned-independent Nathan Hochman. And early results in the San Francisco Bay Area show a sizable lead for the effort to recall progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price from an office she has held for less than two years.

Taken together, the preliminary results are a striking shift away from California’s once nation-leading movement to roll back harsh sentencing rules for nonviolent offenses — one punctuated by a pandemic-era spike in property crimes and retail theft, as well as growing concern about highly visible fentanyl use and homelessness on city streets.

“Safety is a crossover issue,” Hochman told reporters at his election night watch party in Beverly Hills. “Whether you’re on the left or the right, whether you’re Black, white, Latino, Asian, people want to be safe again in this community. They want the police to actually do a very good job at their job.”

California spent more than a decade unraveling punitive sentencing laws dating back to the 1970s after a panel of federal judges ordered the state to reduce its prison population to address severe overcrowding.

Voters and lawmakers passed initiatives and legislation shifting inmates convicted of lower-level crimes from prisons to jails, reducing penalties for some nonviolent offenses and making it easier for inmates to earn early release credits. Prop 47 was among these efforts, which substantially reduced California’s prison population.

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A group of prosecutors tried to roll back reforms in 2020 with a sweeping ballot measure, Proposition 20, that would have reclassified many nonviolent theft-related crimes as felonies and tightened rules for inmates to request early parole. But the measure suffered from poor timing, given the national racial reckoning triggered by George Floyd’s murder months earlier by a Minneapolis police officer. Prop 20’s backers also failed to unify prosecutors and law enforcement figures behind its broad push to prioritize public safety above all else.

The architects of Prop 36 built a broader coalition by crafting a more precise measure focused on punishing repeat offenders who commit drug and property crimes without touching California’s parole process. Their approach splintered Democrats, with Gov. Gavin Newsom opposing it and big-city leaders like San Francisco Mayor London Breed endorsing it, scuttling resistance to the measure.

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Those same political headwinds hurt Gascón, even in deep-blue Los Angeles County. His sweeping changes — largely ending cash bail, banning his prosecutors from seeking the death penalty and rejecting the use of many sentencing enhancements — sparked immediate backlash that tanked his popularity.

“The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking,” Gascon said in a statement after his loss. “Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver.”

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A similar story appears to be playing out for Price in Alameda County, though the race is still too early to call. Price rocked the county’s Democratic establishment in 2022 by winning on a pledge to seek shorter sentences, reduce incarceration and prosecute police officers who unlawfully use lethal force. But surging crime in Oakland, the largest city in her district, propelled the recall push against her, which was funded largely by real estate and finance interests but also supported by influential community activists.

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