WeHo’s Zbur trying to salvage controversial Prop 47

Efforts to revise a notorious soft-on-crime law have advanced in the California Legislature with the help of West Hollywood Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, setting up a showdown with citizens’ push to fully repeal Proposition 47. 

Proposition 47, passed by California voters in November 2014 and titled the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,” reclassified certain nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors rather than felonies to reduce state prison overcrowding. The offenses affected include shoplifting, grand theft, receiving stolen property, forgery, fraud (all under $950 value) and personal use of most illegal drugs.

The intent was to allocate savings towards drug and mental health treatment, education, and victim services, aiming to enhance public safety by prioritizing resources for more serious crimes and reducing recidivism. However, Prop 47 has been contentious, with critics citing increases in property crimes and arguing that it allows individuals committing low-level offenses to repeatedly avoid severe penalties, potentially impacting community safety.

Senate Bill 1381, championed by Democrat state Senators Aisha Wahab of Hayward and Angelique Ashby of Sacramento, seeks to modify the decade-old law through a more nuanced approach than a competing citizen-initiated measure aiming for a full repeal of Proposition 47, which also gained ballot certification recently. The legislative proposal, requiring only a simple majority in both chambers to secure a spot on the November ballot, reflects a strategic legislative response to concerns about retail theft and the fentanyl crisis.

Zbur, the bill’s co-author and chair of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Retail Theft, was key to the bill’s advocacy in the Assembly. He emphasized that the measure aims to hold offenders accountable while avoiding the reimplementation of excessively harsh penalties for minor thefts. This stance aligns with efforts to avoid reverting to policies that contributed to mass incarceration and the ineffective war on drugs.

The debate surrounding SB 1381 has polarized stakeholders, with state retailer and grocer associations supporting the bill, while groups representing sheriffs, district attorneys, and defense attorneys have expressed opposition. Critics like Cory Salzillo from the California State Sheriffs’ Association argue that the bill’s three-year limitation on aggregating thefts could undermine prosecutorial efforts against serial offenders. Additionally, the requirement for prosecutors to prove that a dealer knowingly sold fentanyl adds a layer of complexity to fentanyl-related prosecutions.

Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Republican from Palmdale, criticized the bill as misleading and accused Democrats of creating legislative confusion to obscure the effects of Proposition 47. He pointed to the increased security measures like locking up common goods in stores as evidence of the law’s negative impact on retail safety.

Despite such criticisms, proponents like Ashby maintain that their initiative offers a reasoned alternative to the full repeal, focusing on recalibrating rather than revoking the adjustments made by Proposition 47. This legislative approach aims to balance public safety concerns with the imperative to prevent overly punitive responses to minor criminal offenses.