California’s Soros-backed progressive experiment collapses after a decade

Certain 2024 election results in California surprised many.

Golden State residents, for example, rejected another designation for the progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, backed by billionaire George Soros.

They also voted overwhelmingly — by more than 70% — for Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, which seeks to undo parts of Proposition 47 from 2014 by increasing penalties for some crimes. The proposal, which took effect Dec. 18, would allow charges to be filed against those in possession of certain drugs and those who commit thefts under $950. In addition, people charged with these crimes may spend more time in prison.

In other words, the ballot measure aims to crack down on certain minor crimes that would not have been labeled misdemeanors and gone unpunished — or lightly punished — under Proposition 47.

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Surveillance video shows thieves climbing onto an upstairs balcony and breaking into a California home through a sliding door. (Orange County District Attorney’s Office)

When Prop 47 passed in 2014, it downgraded most thefts from felonies to misdemeanors if the amount stolen was less than $950, “unless the defendant had prior convictions for murder, rape, certain sex crimes, or certain gun crimes.”

Progressives criticized the measure as racist. The ACLU of Northern California described Prop 47 in a press release as “part of a broader conservative strategy in California and across the nation to roll back criminal justice reforms aimed at breaking the cycle of mass incarceration of black and brown people.”

Others believe the new bill will bring positive changes to the state, especially in areas that have struggled with violent crime for years.

“We’re making theft a crime again.”

—Chad Bianco

People loot property during nationwide unrest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in Los Angeles, California, United States on May 30, 2020. (REUTERS/Kyle Grillot)

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Prop 36 “will definitely make things better” in California. The proposal would help mitigate three major problems in California, he said, including drugs, homelessness and theft.

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“Being safe is not a Republican or Democratic issue. Being safe is a human issue,” Bianco told Fox News Digital. “Being safe is an American issue. We have a lot of freedoms in this country. We are the greatest country in the world. And with that comes a great responsibility to keep the people who are going to victimize us out of our free societies.”

Hair and body products are seen locked behind glass doors at a Target in Los Angeles County. (Soledad Ursua)

Californians are “fed up” that public safety laws aren’t doing enough to protect the state’s residents and businesses from crime and homelessness, which is why Bianco believes Prop 36 garnered strong support among the state’s voters.

“We can now force people into rehab or they go to jail. So with that, we know that the majority of our homeless problem is drug addiction. Drug dependent psychosis causes this mental illness that leads to most of the people that we deal with with the homeless crisis,” Bianco explained.

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Seventy percent of people in the state who voted for Prop 36 want people who commit crimes to be held accountable, Bianco said.

“If you have a kid and you discipline that kid to stop them from doing things, they stop doing it,” Bianco said. “You raise productive kids. It’s no different with teenagers or adults, when they repeatedly get away with things, it’s human nature: You push the limit.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a homeless accountability bill. (Anadolu/contributor)

Bob Larkin, vice president of retail clients at security firm Allied Universal, said the passage of Prop 36 “should have a much-needed positive impact on the safety of both residents and businesses in these cities as well as the entire state.”

“Over the past decade, California has faced a number of challenges, including increases in crime and drug abuse, which have affected safety and quality of life,” Larkin said. “As the largest security company in the world with approximately 800,000 employees, including 57,000 state employees, Allied Universal team members at customer locations observe the realities of crime in California every day.”

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Larkin believes Prop 36 will help businesses and communities by giving them “effective tools to hold individuals accountable.”

Oakland’s homeless population has increased by 9% over the past two years, according to the latest official estimate. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times)

“Supporters of the measure worked with large companies and organizations that all wanted to effectively improve community safety. Allied Universal was a supporter of the proposal,” Larkin said, adding his belief that Californians “overwhelmingly approved the measure because they saw their communities and everyone businesses across the country that have been hit hard by the crime crisis that has grown exponentially over the past several years.”

“This action was necessary to help improve the safety of employees, businesses and communities in California.”

– Bob Larkin, Allied Universal

California criminal defense attorney Julia Jayne of the Julia Jayne Law Group told Fox News Digital in a statement that Prop 36 means “defense attorneys will have to work harder to keep clients out of jail and prison in cases where it might not be case. the best solution.”

“I think it reflects a shift in California in general where district attorneys have been recalled and where citizens are voting for tougher penalties for criminal behavior,” Jayne said. “The post-COVID years left many citizens with the feeling that crime was spiraling out of control, regardless of whether the actual data and statistics currently support that conclusion.”

Police said they believe these eight suspects have been involved in at least 23 organized retail crime thefts at various Walgreens locations in San Francisco. (Fox News)

However, she added that she also believes the increase in felony charges is likely to increase the prison population, and it is “unclear” to her whether the measure will have a positive impact on California residents in the long term.

Zack Seyun, founder and CEO of Cartha AI, an LA-based mental health platform, told Fox News Digital that the passage of Prop 36 hit close to home for him, both professionally and personally.

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“As a business owner in the mental health area of ​​Los Angeles, I am deeply affected by California’s approach to crimes that affect the business sector, as well as the welfare of our community – such as retail theft and drug-related offenses.” Seyun said in a statement. “These are challenges I face in my business because they undermine the safety and security that my patients need to have the kind of mental health conversations that will allow them to thrive again.”

Homeless people are seen as the city battles fentanyl problems in San Francisco, California, USA on February 26, 2024. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu)

But the proposal will have “complicated effects,” he added. On the one hand, it could bring back “a necessary, common sense to punish thieves and some drug users more harshly — especially since what’s being reversed here are the reforms of the supposedly ‘reformative’ Prop 47 of 2014,” Seyun said.

On the other hand, Seyun said, he worries about the impact the new measure will have on California’s already high incarceration rates.

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“I’m in favor of anything that will help reduce crime, but I also worry about the kind of society we’re building. Higher prison populations can lead to overcrowding,” he said. “We cannot keep a certain number of individuals above ground in a certain amount of space without a serious, potentially toxic allocation of local resources—the kind of allocation that diverts funds from essential community services…directly to the penal institution.”

LA Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency against homelessness as her first act as mayor in December 2022. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

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The business executive noted that the overwhelming support for Prop 36 from voters “speaks to the abundant public sentiment surrounding crime and the perceived lack of adequate security measures.”

“I’ve discussed the issue with storefront acquaintances who have had the same unfortunate crime that I have. When you get right down to it, business in the state feels vulnerable. Meeting that vulnerability with a sense of the law is what Prop 36 is all about, Seyun said.