Proposition 47 - Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute
- Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for certain drug possession offenses.
- Requires misdemeanor sentence instead of felony for the following crimes when amount involved is $950 or less: petty theft, receiving stolen property, and forging/writing bad checks.
- Allows felony sentence for these offenses if person has previous conviction for crimes such as rape, murder, or child molestation or is registered sex offender.
- Requires resentencing for persons serving felony sentences for these offenses unless court finds unreasonable public safety risk.
- Applies savings to mental health and drug treatment programs, K–12 schools, and crime victims.
Official Title and Summary, prepared by the Attorney General
Passage of Proposition 47 in the last election significantly changes how criminal cases are and will be handled statewide, with rippling effects in immigration and family law. It is also expected to cause a hiring surge in prosecutor and public defender offices statewide.
To help our students and graduates keep abreast of Proposition 47’s implementation, we at LCS recommend watching this free video, while earning free, self-study CLE units.
According to the article, Prop 47: Courts Scramble to Keep Up with Downgrade of Drug Crimes, by Erika Aguilar, the state Legislative Analyst estimates that 40,000 people are convicted each year of the types of felonies now considered misdemeanors under Prop 47. According to The Associated Press, some 4,000 inmates across the state may be eligible for resentencing or early release. (These numbers do not include those who have served their time already.) And because the proposition is retroactive, it can be applied to past offenses, impacting people who are facing charges or currently serving time, and those who have already served time but would like to downgrade their felony record to a misdemeanor record. Downgrade of a past felony conviction restores voting and other rights. It also changes employment chances, the ability to qualify for student loans and public housing assistance, and opens the possibility for expungement. Moreover, reclassifications affect other areas of law, not just prosecution and defense.
Many counties are still trying to work out how to approach the reclassifications due to budget constraints. L.A. District Attorney, Jackie Lacey, said that her office will continue to file misdemeanors under Prop 47 until the end of January to give Los Angeles, Long Beach and Inglewood time to hire additional staff and train them on the new law. “The L.A. City Attorney’s office anticipates a 17 percent increase in workload because of Proposition 47, according to a report submitted to the city council... They are asking for eight new attorneys with support staff that will cost approximately $510,000 beginning this fiscal year.”
While Los Angeles is one of the first to ask for more attorneys to help with the work load, it’s highly probable that both prosecutor and public defender offices statewide will follow suit. This means job opportunities, and a familiarity with Prop 47 can be beneficial.
