Proposition 47: It’s Cool!
L.A. Times, October 6, 2014: Yes on Proposition 47:
Proposition 47 would do a great deal to stop the ongoing and unnecessary flow of Californians to prison for nonviolent and nonserious offenses and would, crucially, reduce the return flow of offenders from prison back to their neighborhoods in a condition — hardened by their experience, hampered by their felony records, unready for employment or education, likely mentally ill or addicted — that leaves them only too likely to offend again. [Patterico sez: Whew! Don’t try to read that sentence aloud unless you have excellent breath control.] It is a good and timely measure that can help the state make smarter use of its criminal justice and incarceration resources. The Times strongly recommends a “yes” vote on Proposition 47.
Got that? Proposition 47 will keep people from reoffending, you see.
Fast forward barely more than one year, and we see this in today’s Los Angeles Times:
Unintended consequences of Prop. 47 pose challenge for criminal justice system
Semisi Sina has kept sheriff’s deputies busy in the last year.
The 30-year-old has stolen bicycles from his Hacienda Heights neighborhood. He has skipped out on drug treatment and kept up his meth habit.
He has racked up 16 arrests, earning himself a place near the top of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s list of repeat offenders picked up for theft or drug use. And he says a new law has made it easier for him to commit crimes.
“Now, you can get away with it because of Proposition 47,” Sina said recently in an interview at his parents’ home.
. . . .
Sina said he rejoiced when he first heard about Proposition 47. He said he didn’t start stealing bicycles until the proposition raised the threshold for a felony theft to $950.
“Proposition 47, it’s cool,” Sina said. “Like for me, I can go do a [commercial] burglary and know that if it’s not over $900, they’ll just give me a ticket and let me go.”
Cool, man! Stealing is awesome. Just ask the editors of the L.A. Times!
Thanks to Kevin M.
I propose a proposition that the restitution for all the stolen bikes be paid for by the editors of the Los Angeles Times.
Patterico (86c8ed) — 11/6/2015 @ 8:08 pmmy first takeaway from this piece is that there’s a “proposition” in “california” called “47”
oh c’mon take a guess at my sat score you know you wanna
happyfeet (831175) — 11/6/2015 @ 8:16 pmI really don’t have a problem with FELONY theft have a high threshold, and $950 seems low for a felony — a crime beyond the pale that sets the perpetrator apart from society forever.
What I have a problem with is not punishing folks for their misdemeanors. That;s what the local lockup is supposed to be for. Drunk driving, petty theft, simple assault, smoking in a hospital, etc. Thirty days in the slammer, maybe more. But the local jail is filled up and DA’s know it isn’t worth their time.
So they spend the night in jail, post bail and walk.
I’m thinking that we need to revisit older punishments. Caning. The stocks. We should also make things cumulative. The guy who steals a dozen bikes crosses a line that the guy who steals one might not. There is no mitigating circumstance to stealing a bunch of something, even bread.
Two days in the stocks outside of the Hacienda Heights courtroom might make an impression. Add a day for each bike. Sell rotten fruit to defray costs.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/6/2015 @ 8:45 pmThis can’t possibly be a problem because we mean well.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/6/2015 @ 9:04 pmIncentive to attack the poorest and avoid the rich enclaves, which are crammed with objects/property worth $1K and more?
Genius ju-jitsu by the 1%.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 11/6/2015 @ 9:47 pmPersonally, I think it’s about time to decriminalize crime. Because then, you won’t have anymore crime. It’s about time for a common-sense solution for the middle class that will have a minimal impact on the economy and prevent areas of our world from becoming uninhabitable in our lifetime.
Yes, folks, after watching Hillary!, The Bern and O’Midsection, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring once again.
I am officially announcing my run as the Democrat nominee as President of the United States.
I will be running on the legacy of President Obama. My platform is simple: Pot for every chicken; Second Amendment rights for government employees and absolutely no guns except the ones that shoot a “bang” flag for everyone else; First Amendment rights for registered Democrats and college students; private email servers for all bureaucrats; free intercourse between borders (this may be my winner); and absolutely no infrastructure improvements that may improve the quality of life of American citizens because you don’t deserve it you dirty bastards what with your pollution and all.
Once again, I am looking for a campaign manager. Don’t apply if you volunteered last time because we all know how that turned out.
Vote Ag80. You really, really don’t have anything to lose.*
*(Disclaimer: I am not Hillary! Or Jeb! I never led the Detroit JROTC or met Gen. Westmoreland. My brother has never been President. My husband has never been President. I have said “Your fired,” but everyone giggled. My smile has been called “demented,” but my mother says she loves me anyway even though I could be more like my older brother. He’s an evangelist. I did not graduate from Harvard Law. My credit score is low. I am trying to lose weight. I have visited Louisiana. One time I threatened a redneck with a tennis racket, but it was justified. So far, no bankruptcy, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. Through no fault of my own, I have never left four Americans to die in any foreign country).
Ag80 (eb6ffa) — 11/6/2015 @ 9:52 pmHeh. Ag80, you might be the first Democrat I ever vote for – and that just because you’re so darn charming. And free things, of course.
Dana (86e864) — 11/6/2015 @ 10:01 pmAg80/Dana 2016
mg (31009b) — 11/7/2015 @ 2:02 amOnce again, I am looking for a campaign manager. Don’t apply if you volunteered last time because we all know how that turned out.
Ag80 has upped his standards. Now, up yours!
nk (dbc370) — 11/7/2015 @ 3:09 amNot backing this time with that platform
Get someone else to be your campaign manager…
Besides…you fired me in a huff last time…
MD in Philly (not in Philly, and out and about) (deca84) — 11/7/2015 @ 5:56 amAh, the old “UC” problem. You see?
mojo (a3d457) — 11/7/2015 @ 6:01 amIf you want to read about a bleak future, read the book “Methland”.
Oh boy… A nation overrun by methheads stealing anything that’s not nailed down.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/7/2015 @ 6:08 amA state overrun by tweekers, gangbangers, limp-wristed, lightly loafered lefties, and swarthy idjits MOtivated by a 7th century pedophile…
California.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/7/2015 @ 6:17 amCalifornia needs to introduce a proposition that orders removal of thieves’ hands; that’s what they do out here in Saudi Arabia (Obama’s job-killing policies drove me out here, you see). I saw Justice Breyer bloviating on CNN about the need to attune itself to international standards. The arrogance and condescension of the man! Anyway, who can object to the U.S. harmonizing itself to international norms?
Provide that the hand-severers be unionized public employees; that’ll be a good sop to throw to possible ideological opponents.
Yours in an almost entirely theft-free land,
Golden Eagle (ddf081) — 11/7/2015 @ 6:30 amCol. Haiku is on to something.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 11/7/2015 @ 7:17 amno, only teh caffeine, AZ Bob… oh… wait…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/7/2015 @ 7:26 amLast month the WaPo had a couple of articles about the “sucess” if Prop47. They talked about how the sheriffs of San Diego and the prosecution offices saw the same folks in and out almost daily at court. That some crooks have learned to “steal to Prop47” knowing that if they don’t go over the magic line they don’t go to jail. There was even a few federal felony issues when the WaPo interviewed the LA County prosecution office and a rep there said a couple of known folks who had stolen guns were let go because the value of said guns didn’t cross the $950 level. To which I ask but isn’t there laws on the books at the state level on stolen guns? Let alone stolen guns is a federal crime. It was even sadder that one if these crooks then used a stolen gun to beat a little old lady in Huntington Beach to an inch of her life for a cell phone and almost died when confronted by police. So it seems this prop has basically destroyed criminal justice system in CA. Of course the WaPo didn’t present it that way. Rather it was about how the evil 1% an its unwillingness to be taxed to provide social services for the drug users and the mental illness folks. If only people would quit voting against thier interests.
Charles (70d81a) — 11/7/2015 @ 7:45 amSo ol’ Semisi has been arrested and released 16 times since Prop 47 passed. Looks like he’s really making something of himself, though, digging holes in the ground. And he probably will never do anything violent either. Too bad for all the kids he stole bikes from. Oh well, they’re probably racists.
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/7/2015 @ 8:24 amEast St. Louis was robbed:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-06/these-are-20-worst-cities-us-spot-common-theme
DNF (755a85) — 11/7/2015 @ 8:25 amFirst, it continues to amaze me to read about people like this who are proud of their criminal accomplishments, however mediocre they may be. Second, I don’t believe this criminal has limited himself to petty crimes. He may not have been caught yet but he probably will be someday.
DRJ (15874d) — 11/7/2015 @ 8:32 amA state overrun by tweekers, gangbangers, limp-wristed, lightly loafered lefties, and swarthy idjits MOtivated by a 7th century pedophile…
California.
And how many of the do-gooder lefties, when circumstances become too dysfunctional even by their own standards in their immediate surroundings, pack their bags, load the Bekins truck and move the hell away from that which they helped nurture?
Mark (f713e4) — 11/7/2015 @ 8:47 amIf you want to read about a bleak future, read the book “Methland”.
Better book, better drug, same bleak post-Obama future; read Dan Simmons’ “Flashback.” The SJWs will make sure that Simmons will never win another Hugo.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/7/2015 @ 8:54 amI remain more upset that misdemeanors HAVE been decriminalized.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/7/2015 @ 8:57 amThe only solution is private ownership of firearms and an informal system of capital punishment. My wife was advised one time by a police officer at a party where the subject came up. “If you shoot and kill a prowler, always drag him into the house before you call us.”
Mike K (90dfdc) — 11/7/2015 @ 9:07 amKevin M,
nk (dbc370) — 11/7/2015 @ 9:13 amI’m reading my first Dan Simmons book now. The Fifth Heart. I like his writing style. As for the Hugos, the freaks can keep them. I have no interest in the Nielsen-Haydens’ bedroom role-play scenarios.
“Prison remains a lifetime achievement award for persistence in criminal offending.” See Heather MacDonald.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 11/7/2015 @ 11:09 amThat’s funny the thing about unintended consequences; opponents of Pro 47 (do doubt) suggested that, while unintended, the consequences were entirely predictable, indeed, unavoidable.
Happens again and again: stories about those crazy right-wingers and their fear mongering, followed about a year later by stories about the unintended consequences of some liberal policy. Any mention that those crazy right-wingers predicted these consequences?
Pious Agnostic (4e1a81) — 11/7/2015 @ 11:33 amThe biggest difference between liberals and conservatives IMO is that liberals are dedicated to intentions and conservatives to consequences. (See Prop 47.)
I do believe, however, that some of this disorder is a feature, not a bug, of the bill. Leftists love disorder–it creates a need for more government.
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/7/2015 @ 11:45 amLiberals… identifying with criminals for 50 years.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/7/2015 @ 1:06 pmLiberals… identifying with criminals for 50 years.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/7/2015 @ 1:06 pm
Liberals… criminals for almost 2oo years!
FIFY, I did!
😆
Yoda (feee21) — 11/7/2015 @ 1:29 pmNow these guys know how to deal with criminals! http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8eb_1446888260
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 11/7/2015 @ 1:39 pmSomeone has to keep the world sanitized.
mg (31009b) — 11/7/2015 @ 2:04 pmPretty amazing stats there, DNF. And the sickness is spreading. Salt Lake City, home of Mormonism, just elected a lesbian (which is fine with me) mayor who is also a leftist (which is not). What??
And I’ve read about Methland, the book. I am so tired of the Marxist view that economics causes dysfunction, like drug taking there. It’s always in the passive voice, like the flu afflicts people, and meth afflicts people. People chose to take dangerous drugs! Companies were allowed to bring in illegals along with their drug culture. It was free will, all the way.
Patricia (5fc097) — 11/7/2015 @ 2:05 pmIt is all free will. Even addicted people can freely choose to seek help, or not. There is always a choice.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 11/7/2015 @ 2:13 pmR.I.P. George Barris, creator of the Batmobile for the original Batman tv series
Icy (366b39) — 11/7/2015 @ 2:47 pmSLC has often had liberal mayors, Patricia. The greater SLC area is where a lot of out-of-staters relocate.
Colonel Haiku (73c0b6) — 11/7/2015 @ 3:07 pmthis should make property and casualty insurance rates in failifornia go even more higher
is that even possible?
happyfeet (831175) — 11/7/2015 @ 3:41 pmyes, that one’s out of character with Simmon, who is kind of dour, he has fun with the canon,
narciso (ee1f88) — 11/7/2015 @ 3:59 pmPaging Leviticus.
Should be right up his alley.
njrob (c94106) — 11/7/2015 @ 7:10 pmOh really, Colonel haiku? Did not know that. Thought it was due to the influx of techies.
patricia (5fc097) — 11/7/2015 @ 7:27 pm“These are my standards. If you don’t like them, I have others.”
Groucho Marx
Bill H (2a858c) — 11/7/2015 @ 7:37 pmThe 30-year-old has stolen bicycles from his Hacienda Heights neighborhood.
that’s just pitiful this is the dorkiest criminal ever
happyfeet (831175) — 11/8/2015 @ 5:42 pm