Loading ...Crime is illegal again in California — Voters approve tough-on-crime ballot initiative Prop 36.
California voters approved a tough-on-crime ballot initiative that would strengthen penalties for some theft- and drug-related crimes, delivering a rebuke to the progressive policies that had made the state a national leader on racial justice and rehabilitation.
Proposition 36, a proposal backed by a coalition of prosecutors and big-box retailers like Walmart and Target, will reclassify certain theft- and drug-related crimes as possible felonies instead of misdemeanors and introduce mandated drug treatment for some repeat offenders.