California Proposition 47 (2014)

Proposition 47

Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute.

Location

Date

November 4, 2014

Results
	Votes	%
Yes	4,238,156	7001596100000000000♠59.61%
No	2,871,943	7001403900000000000♠40.39%
Valid votes	7,110,099	7001946300000000000♠94.63%
Invalid or blank votes	403,873	7000537000000000000♠5.37%
Total votes	7,513,972	100.00%

Source: California Secretary of State

Proposition 47, also known by its ballot title Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute, was a referendum passed by voters in the state of California on November 4, 2014. The measure was also referred to by its supporters as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. It recategorized some nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors, rather than felonies, as they had previously been categorized.

The measure's main effects were to convert many nonviolent offenses, such as drug and property offenses, from felonies to misdemeanors. These offenses include shoplifting, writing bad checks, and drug possession. The measure also required that money saved as a result of the measure would be spent on "school truancy and dropout prevention, victim services, mental health and drug abuse treatment, and other programs designed to keep offenders out of prison and jail." The measure included exceptions for offenses involving more than $950 and criminals with records including violence or sex offenses. For example, forgery had previously been a "wobbler" offense that could be charged by the prosecutor as a misdemeanor or a felony. Now with the passage of Proposition 47, prosecutors cannot charge a forgery involving less than $950 as a felony unless the defendant has a criminal record.

The measure both affects future convictions and allows for people currently incarcerated for crimes covered by the measure to petition for re-sentencing.

In November 2015, a report by the Stanford University Justice Advocacy Project authored by the co-author of Proposition 47, found that Proposition 47 had reduced the state's prison population by 13,000, and that it would save the state about $150 million that year.

The measure was endorsed by the editorial board of the New York Times, which praised it as a way to reduce overcrowding in the state's prisons. It was also endorsed by the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times, which wrote that the measure was a "good and timely measure that can help the state make smarter use of its criminal justice and incarceration resources." The American Civil Liberties Union also supported the measure and donated $3.5 million to support it.

Prominent individual supporters included Jay-Z and Newt Gingrich.

Opponents of the measure include Mark A. Peterson, the District Attorney of Contra Costa County, who wrote before its passage that the measure "would make our neighborhoods and schools less safe". It was also criticized by Nancy O'Malley, the District Attorney of Alameda County, who said it would "expose Californians to significant harm" and called it a "Trojan horse".

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