Polls show that Californians largely support Prop. 36 to get tougher on crime

SACRAMENTO –

A solid majority of likely California voters support Proposition 36, the November ballot measure that would impose tougher penalties for retail theft and fentanyl-related crimes, according to a new poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies co-sponsored by The Times.

Imposing harsher sentences for repeat offenders boosted that support and far outweighed voters’ desire to increase overall law enforcement or deter future crimes, the poll found.

However, nearly half of respondents support rehabilitation and treatment of first-time offenders, among other things, as the best way to improve California’s criminal justice system. Voters were almost evenly divided on whether Proposition 36 would reduce homelessness or drug addiction in California – one of the selling points of the measure’s supporters.

“Voters want to approve this initiative,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll, a nonpartisan survey of public opinion in California. “I find the reasons interesting.”

The Berkeley poll also found support declining for an initiative to increase California’s minimum wage, which along with Proposition 36 is among the 10 statewide measures on California’s November ballot. Support also remained low for the ballot measure that would expand local government authority to impose rent control.

The Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, known as Proposition 36, imposes stricter penalties for repeat theft and crimes involving the deadly drug fentanyl. The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Analysis predicted the initiative could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

The measure is strongly supported by a group of California state attorneys general and major retailers including Walmart and aims to overhaul parts of it Proposal 47a measure approved by voters in 2014 that reduced certain penalties for drug and property crimes.

Before the passage of Proposition 47, some thefts could be considered felonies if the goods stolen were valued at $450 or more. However, Proposition 47 increased the threshold to $950. Law enforcement officials and others criticized those changes, saying the reduced punishment has led to an increase in thefts and other lawlessness across California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s Democratic legislative leadership oppose Proposition 36 because they fear it would return the state to its tough-on-crime policies of the past, which left state prisons so overcrowded that federal courts ruled that the state violated the constitutional rights of inmates. DiCamillo said leaders’ warnings have not swayed voters so far.

“There are things that voters have in mind that politicians seem to have underestimated,” DiCamilo said.

Sixty percent of likely voters supported Proposition 36, a slight increase from August’s Berkeley poll results, while 21 percent opposed the measure and 19 percent were undecided.

A majority of Republicans and independents strongly supported the measure, as did a majority of Democrats. Both men and women supported Proposition 36, as did all age groups, although voters under 30 expressed the lowest support. Black voters likely rejected the ballot measure, which opponents say unfairly targets people of color, while majorities of white, Latino and Asian American/Pacific Islander voters supported it, the poll found.

42 percent of likely voters do not believe Proposition 36 will reduce homelessness and drug addiction, while 39 percent believe it will be effective.

Among likely voters who opposed Proposition 36, 86% said they believe it is more important for California to expand rehabilitation and treatment for first-time offenders or explore other alternatives to best improve the criminal justice system. Among those in favor of the measure, 31% hold this view.

Newsom and the Democrats tried to tinker a competing ballot measure This summer would have addressed crimes like shoplifting with a less punitive approach than Proposition 36, which was pushed by prosecutors abruptly withdrawn from the governor in early July.

Newsom has also publicly challenged the costs the measure would impose, calling it an “unfunded” mandate. The governor also criticized the measure’s drug treatment component last month, saying it “guarantees” mental health treatment. But it’s unclear how enforcement would work if residential treatment facilities “do not exist” in 22 of the state’s 58 counties.

Greg Totten, co-chair of the Yes on Proposition 36 campaign, said voters want a “balanced approach to improving safety in their neighborhoods, holding repeat offenders and fentanyl dealers accountable, and strong incentives for drug treatment for people struggling with addictions.” offers”. The survey is “consistent with what we hear every day from Californians in every community across the state.”

Anthony York, a former spokesman for Newsom who now serves as spokesman for the No on Proposition 36 campaign, said the opposing side has done an “effective job of misleading voters.”

“The poll shows that voters support treatment,” York said, arguing that Proposition 36 will cut funding for treatment and increase prison spending. “In the coming weeks, it’s our job to tell them what’s really behind Prop. 36.”

The poll also examined how voters feel about other initiatives addressing California’s minimum wage and expanding rent control.

In a significant change from the poll in early August, support for Proposition 32, a measure to initially increase the federal minimum wage, has fallen below 50%. Two months ago, 52% of voters said they would vote to raise the minimum wage, but at the end of September only 46% were in favor.

Proposition 32 is most popular in urban areas, including 56% of likely voters in the San Francisco Bay Area and 50% in Los Angeles County who said they would vote for it.

“There is opposition to the minimum wage in other parts of the state,” DiCamillo said, pointing to opposition in the Inland Empire, the Central Valley and the Central Coast.

Support for Proposition 33, which would expand local government authority to impose rent control, has also become muted. In early August, 40% of voters said they would vote for it, but by the end of September that number fell to 37%.

The Berkeley poll was conducted online in English and Spanish from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1 among 3,045 Californians who were expected to vote in the November election.