Yesterday I mentioned a plan by California Democrats to guard Prop 47 from voters. Proposition 47 is laws handed in 2014 that decreased a bunch of drug and theft offenses to misdemeanor standing. Prop 47 has been blamed, at the very least partially, for the rise in property crime and public drug use within the state.
However Democrats who supported Proposition 47, together with Gov. Gavin Newsom, are doing all they will to maintain it from being overturned. Democrats have proposed an entire sequence of recent legal guidelines to deal with property and drug crimes however have threatened so as to add a “reciprocity clause” to the payments that might vaporize them if Proposition 47 is repealed. Republicans known as it a poison tablet, they usually had been proper. As we speak the SF Chronicle featured a superb op-ed titled “California Democrats shady about squashing Prop 47 reform.”
Democrats now have a scheme in place if voters approve a poll measure to reform Proposition 47 — which reduces penalties for some drug and theft crimes — that formally qualifies Tuesday for the November election.
It is the authorized model of Meredith Blake’s ultimatum within the 1998 movie “Mother or father Lure,” when she asks her fiancé Nick to decide on between her and her twin daughters: “Get the image? It is me, or them. Take yours.”…
By doing so, they aren’t solely thwarting their efforts to get Prop 47 reform off the poll. They’re creating one other legal justice PR nightmare for themselves and giving Republicans a straightforward alternative to make fools of them.
As I discussed yesterday, the explanation Democrats are making this an both/or state of affairs is partly as a result of they do not wish to admit they had been mistaken about Proposition 47 however partly as a result of they nonetheless imagine in Proposition 47 as an answer. “Mass Incarceration.” Merely put, the brand new legislation they suggest is not as onerous on criminals as a repeal effort can be. They know this they usually need the crime legislation to be much less powerful than the crime legislation to be more durable.
However two different occasions occurred yesterday that gave the story a little bit of a lift. First, California’s Secretary of State has introduced that the Prop 47 reform has certified for the poll.
BREAKING: California’s secretary of state notified county election officers that the Prop 47 reform initiative has certified for the November poll.
The measure has submitted greater than 600,000 legitimate signatures. pic.twitter.com/sKaaZX5g0i
— Ashley Zavala (@zavalaA) June 11, 2024
However the larger story yesterday is that Democrats appear to have turned a blind eye.
Democratic leaders within the Senate and Meeting redoubled their efforts Monday so as to add rescission clauses to 14 public-safety-related payments, poised to desert efforts the group has been engaged on for the yr if voters go reforms to Proposition 47.
Meeting Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate Professional Tempore Mike McGuire claimed Monday that the 2 proposals can be legally conflicting, however had been brief on specifics.
On Tuesday, legislative officers clarified that 5 of the 14 payments could also be in battle, with the remainder representing ideological variations.
“If these payments are enacted into legislation and we have added invalidation clauses to make sure that the poll initiative goes via, we cannot have a world-class mess of conflicting insurance policies on our fingers,” McGuire stated.
Acquired it? On Monday they argued that each one 14 payments conflicted with the Proposition 47 reform that required them so as to add a poison tablet “interoperability clause.” As of Tuesday they admitted that solely 5 payments had conflicts and the remainder had been “ideological variations.” In different phrases, they lied on Monday they usually bought caught. At this level, it is not even clear whether or not an interoperability clause shall be added to any invoice.
These clauses are shattering the notion that the package deal is extensively supported by each events.
A number of sources inform me Dems are divided, with representatives pulling their help from payments that might comprise void language.
Will it require a 2/3 vote?
— Ashley Zavala (@zavalaA) June 12, 2024
Democrats seem like backing away from this plan. CBS Information reported that California Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, chairman of the Meeting Public Security Committee, stated he doesn’t help poison tablets and won’t add them to the committee.
…In a shocking twist, Democratic leaders introduced that the poison tablet modification wouldn’t be added to their proposed laws…
“For this invoice and the opposite three payments, they aren’t being amended at this time within the public security committee. They’re being heard as they’re,” McCarty stated Tuesday.
McCarthy introduced in his committee that he would withdraw from controversial amendments to the Retail Theft Act and, when requested by a reporter, even introduced that he didn’t help them.
“We did not help them in committee at this time. I did not help them. I help the payments,” McCarty stated.
McCarty is operating for mayor of Sacramento which can clarify why he’s unwilling to undergo with the challenge. One other Democratic state senator has additionally pulled his help for payments based mostly on poison tablet amendments.
The Democratic state senator dropped his title from two payments within the public security package deal over controversial clauses hanging in Prop 47. https://t.co/yIrZjzTExZ
— Ashley Zavala (@zavalaA) June 12, 2024
This story is not over but, nevertheless it appears like California Democrats took a small step again when it grew to become clear that their explanations had been largely partisan bullshit. We’ll have to attend and see how issues go from right here, however at the very least for now the Prop 47 reform is on this yr’s poll.
