Santa Clara County DA Jeff Rosen Opposes Prop 36
Prop 36 would rollback progress Prop 47 has made toward reducing recidivism in California
In an interview with the Bay Area News Group, the parent corporation of the Mercury News, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen stated he continues to support Prop 47. A countermeasure on the ballot this year, Prop 36, would rollback the progress Prop 47 has made toward reducing recidivism in California. Rosen was just one of three California District Attorneys who endorsed Prop 47, which reduced the penalties for certain lower-level drug and property offenses redirected that money toward treatment programs and prioritized prison and jail space for higher-level offenders.
Prop 36 would undo that work, increase penalties for several drug and theft crimes. This would significantly drive up state prison costs, cut funding for behavioral health treatment and other critical services, and potentially push more Californians into homelessness.
A portion of the interview with DA Rosen is featured below.
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“I supported Prop. 47. I still support it and think it has done a lot of good things. Prop. 47 was responding to a number of things happening at the time, one of which was enormous prison overcrowding. We don’t want to build more prisons. Theft and drug addiction, let’s move those away from prison to other forms of accountability.”
Rosen said he sympathizes with public frustration with viral videos of shoplifting and retail theft and the scourge of fentanyl but is not convinced Proposition 36 provides a responsive solution. He noted that organized retail theft, characterized by large groups overwhelming store security and taking off with stolen goods, is almost always in excess of $950 and thus can be charged as felonies.
“The Legislature has addressed the issue and allocated millions of dollars for law enforcement to hire more personnel to deal with organized retail theft,” Rosen said. “It’s happening and it’s working.”
“Everyone wants people addicted to drugs to go to treatment. What this initiative (Prop 36) doesn’t do is provide more funding for drug treatment,” he said. “If there’s not a bed available, you’re not addressing it.”
“We’re not going to punish our way out of drug addiction. We’ve tried it and it didn’t work. Santa Clara County is a relatively well-resourced county, and we don’t have enough drug treatment, and I can’t imagine other places would either,” Rosen added. “And threatening people with jail? That’s not a threat to them. There are illegal drugs in jail.”
Rosen is skeptical of the idea that escalating penalties for theft and drug crimes will affect how law enforcement responds. “Before Prop. 47, if you lived in a wealthy city with low crime and there was a shoplifting at the Walgreens or Target, police responded, same as today. They don’t care if it’s a misdemeanor or a felony. Before Prop. 47 if you lived in a community with high rates of crime and lower resources, police did not respond, and they’re not responding today,” Rosen said. “It’s not like the law turns on or turns off the amount of crime that happens.”
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Read the full article "Santa Clara County DA voices support for Prop. 47 in face of Prop. 36 rollback measure" at the Mercury News website.
