Proposition 36 is literally a proposal to go backward. It aims to overturn the advances in public safety secured through the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014. That proposition, which was overwhelmingly supported by voters, reclassified six low level felony offenses to misdemeanors and earmarked the savings secured through cost reductions in prison sentences to actual solutions: drug and mental health treatment, housing, re-entry services and more.
The initiative worked: it significantly lowered the prison population, providing millions to fund needed programs to get people back on their feet and out of a cycle of addiction, and reduced recidivism, meaning less people re-offending once released. So despite the sensational, fear-stoking propaganda of the Yes on Proposition 36 campaign, crime rates have gone down since the passage of Proposition 47.
The latest California Department of Justice data revealed a decrease in crime in 2023, including violent and property crime. These statistics were ironically recently shared by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as he celebrated San Jose being the "safest big city" in the Bay Area, even as he makes false claims of crime spikes to argue for Proposition 36.
Our people are suffering with trying to survive in the most expensive place to live in the country, with a lack of treatment and mental health supports, and with jails and prisons being the most significantly invested "area of support".
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