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CV NEWS FEED // Californians have begun to reject progressive criminal justice policies that have contributed to a dramatic rise in crime and homelessness across the state, according to analyst Michael Shellenberger of The Free Press.
For the past decade, Shellenberger explained, progressive advocates have pushed for decriminalizing drugs, reducing penalties for nonviolent crimes, and reforming the criminal justice system in the name of compassion.
Oregon, Washington, and California, especially in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, served as “real-world laboratories of these radical theories.”
However, according to Shellenberger, the results have been devastating. Drug addiction, mental illness, and homelessness have surged, and violent crime has followed suit. In California, violent crime was 31% higher than the national average in 2022, with aggravated assaults contributing significantly to the increase.
Shellenberger pointed to California’s Proposition 47, passed in 2014, as a key example of these radical policies. Proposition 47 reduced certain thefts and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. While initially intended to reduce prison populations and provide more lenient alternatives for offenders, the law has instead emboldened criminals. Prosecutors struggled to take action against offenses like break-ins and drug trafficking. Additionally, the homeless population skyrocketed, particularly in cases involving mental illness and addiction, growing by over 50% in the past decade.
While violent crime decreased at a national level, it skyrocketed in California, with one out of four San Francisco residents saying they have been a victim of a violent crime.
According to Shellenberger, the human toll of these policies was seen on the streets, where the most vulnerable individuals—many suffering from addiction and mental illness—lived in dire conditions.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, drug dealers operating under the city’s sanctuary laws caused widespread death and suffering, leading to a dramatic surge in overdose deaths. 810 people died from overdose in the last year alone.
But recently, Californians have begun to push back against these policies. Shellenberger wrote. Proposition 36, a statewide measure designed to undo some of the changes made by Proposition 47, passed with overwhelming support, receiving 70% approval. The new law reinstates harsher penalties for repeat theft offenders and increases sentences for crimes like fentanyl dealing.
Moreover, in key cities, voters chose to oust leaders who had embraced lenient criminal justice reforms. In Los Angeles, George Gascón, a progressive district attorney, was replaced by a Republican challenger. In Oakland, both the district attorney and the mayor were recalled.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, long criticized for her handling of crime, was defeated by candidate Dan Lurie, who campaigned partly on increasing police presence and tackling homelessness.
“These are all very positive signs,” Shellenberger said. “But the question is not why voters revolted against policies that made their lives and the lives of their less-fortunate neighbors so much worse—but rather why it took them so long.”
In addition to weakening the police force, California’s progressive district attorneys stopped prosecuting most laws. The deeper problem, however, was the “misguided worldview that labeled people addicted to hard drugs or suffering from mental illness as ‘victims,’ to whom everything should be given,” Shellenberger wrote, “including the right to camp and use hard drugs in tents on sidewalks, with nothing required of them—not even obeying the law.”
Looking ahead, Shellenberger points to the examples of Portugal and the Netherlands, which tackled the high levels of overdose deaths by re-criminalizing hard drugs, enforcing laws against nonviolent crimes, and mandating rehabilitation as an alternative to prison for offenders.
“If California does those things, the number of drug deaths could be slashed by half in a year, and brought down by 90 percent within three years,” Shellenberger stated.
