SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A new poll shows most of those surveyed stand behind the measure that aims for harsher consequences for drug and theft crimes.
A recent poll by The Public Institute of California shows 71% of those surveyed support Prop 36 while 26% oppose it. If passed, voters would set into motion harsher penalties for some drug and theft crimes.
The measure seeks to reverse course on looser consequences from Prop 47. The 2014 voter-approved law changed some felonies to misdemeanors, including retail theft when the stolen items are valued at less than $950.
While the majority of Californians support this, Governor Newsom said this is not the way. The governor said he believes Prop 36 will set the state back.
“It’s about mass incarceration. It’s about bringing us back to 1980’s mindset,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “The impacts it’s going to have on the black and brown community is next level…I was wondering what state I was living in. I know people are frustrated; I know people are angry – I am too – but this is not the way of solving it.”
On the other hand, San Jose Mayor Mahan agrees with those polled. “Some people, when they are in the throes of an addiction to a severe substance like fentanyl or meth, it can be very hard to make a rational decision in the moment and we will need in some cases to mandate that people get the help that they need, even if they are not in the position to accept it and particularly when they are breaking our laws because of that addiction.”
He said he’s focused on passing the resolution to increase drug addiction resources, saying it’s all intertwined in the fight to end homelessness.
In a statement, Mayor Mahan added, “PPIC’s latest survey reflects what I hear every day managing one of California’s largest cities, and what voters of all political stripes can see with their own eyes. There are common sense steps that we can take right now to combat the epidemic of drug overdoses, retail thefts and homelessness plaguing our communities. By allowing judges to mandate treatment for repeat drug offenders, Proposition 36 brings back valuable tools will save lives, while combatting the increases in homelessness, stealing and dealing that untreated addiction invites. It will offer real deterrence for those trafficking in deadly fentanyl, as well as the chronic retail theft that is raising prices for hard-working Californians by billions of dollars every year and shuttering our small businesses.”
However, some of Mahan’s constituents disagree. A criminal justice advocate from San Jose based nonprofit, Silicon Valley De-Bug, believed Prop 36 hurts them by using jail as housing.
“People who are really in the vulnerable parts of our society, barely hanging on, are struggling, are impoverished and you going to place them in jails and prisons and they’re going to come back so that’s the piece of it that Mayor Mayhan hasn’t talked about. What is the condition of people going be, how supported are they going to be, how on their feet are they going to be after they’ve been to prison, after they’ve been to jail, after they now have a criminal record that is much more extensive than it would’ve been. So this is going to be generationally challenging,” said Silicon Valley De-Bug Founder, Raj Yayadev.
Residents will be able to vote on whether to pass prop 36 when they see it on the ballot this November.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)