Blog Post 15: ​All Gotham, no Batman. Where is California headed and how do we fix the future?

If we were to explore the world of crime and punishment on an international level, we would see a variety of tactics and legal systems varying from extremes to completely lawless societies. From beheadings to multi-generational prison sentences, there really is no limit to what the legal system is capable of on the international level. However, in some of these extremist-style law countries, is there a criminal enterprise within that country that is successful? Or are certain crimes almost non-existent because of the laws, and more importantly the punishments, that are set in place? I would say it’s a combination of both.

While there are many countries who still use public displays of violence as a means of legal punishment, is it a tactic that promotes fear? Or is it a tactic that promotes a polite society? There are 14 countries that still utilize capital punishment, the United States being one of them. Some countries like Russia have abolished capital punishment under a moratorium unlike some South American countries who have abolished it entirely with the exception of wartime executions. There is a small group of countries including Canada where capital punishment and/or executions are completely abolished.

The major difference that sets them all apart aside from the method, however, is the legal system within that country, specifically the due process of law. There is something to be said about due process and what we have afforded to us in the United States overall. While it may not be perfect, we are not quick to remove your hand via sword for shoplifting. I’ve said this many times before, but if there are some of you out there who feel that this country does not afford you fair and impartial treatment in the arena of the legal system, I encourage you to visit various parts of the world, break the law, and then write me. I assure you we won’t be sitting down for coffee to discuss your findings anytime soon.

I will be the very first to acknowledge that the United States does have some pitfalls and challenges when it comes to the legal system, and not to beat a dead horse, I have also yet to find its equal in the realm of international law and order. With the legal system being fairly consistent in terms of foundation, why are we at an all time high for violent crimes, homicide, property crimes, organized crime, drug related crimes, and drug related deaths? The answer is simple: we keep voting for it. More importantly, we have government leaders and their cohorts who keep writing it. The argument could be made that the votes are what count, and the people should decide. I absolutely agree that the people should decide, but that decision is based solely on what is being supplied as options for said people. Even more important than the vote is what is being advertised when it comes to the actual verbiage of the measure itself.

Let’s take a journey back to the fall of 2014. We were on the rebound from the recession and life was good. Staffing for law enforcement was plentiful and we were slowly growing to the point of being able to control the streets once again. The criminal element in California wasn’t completely in check but there was definitely a grasp on the throat of evil. In the fall of 2014, many Californians would cast their votes for a Proposition called “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” The name itself was enough for many Californians to vote yes. It sounded great, and why would anyone vote against that?

The proposition details, however, were as follows: “Proposition 47, a law that will change certain low-level crimes from potential felonies to misdemeanors. The savings from reduced incarceration costs will be invested into drug and mental health treatment, programs for at-risk students in K-12 schools, and victim services.

Individuals with a prior felony record for any of the following low-level, nonviolent offenses or who are currently serving time for the following crimes may qualify to change their record or their sentence to a misdemeanor: Simple drug possession, Petty theft under $950, Shoplifting under $950, Forgery under $950, Writing a bad check under $950, Receipt of stolen property under $950.

Individuals who are currently incarcerated for offenses committed in the state of California that are impacted by Proposition 47 can seek to be resentenced and released (this is known as resentencing). Individuals who have been previously convicted of these felonies for crimes committed in the state of California can apply to have them changed on their record to misdemeanors (this is known as reclassification). Removal of a felony record can reduce immigration consequences and help remove barriers to jobs, housing and stability.”

The objective was to essentially save/reallocate millions of dollars by relaxing and altering laws and punishments under the assumption that the offender(s) would completely comply with the expectations of a civilized and crime free society. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared us for what the passing of this legislation did for the state of California. Now 8 years later in 2023, we could pick any catastrophic topic that we are currently facing as an issue in California and there would be a very quick and readily identifiable association to the passing of Proposition 47. Even using the words “safe schools” in modern day is a joke. Our schools are the most dangerous they have ever been. Record high violence, record high drug use, and record high drug related deaths. In addition to the crime statistics, our streets surrounding these schools are plagued with homeless encampments and overall filth.

One of the major issues we saw with the post-passing of Proposition 47 was the dollar amounts associated to crimes. Would it surprise you to know that most of these thieves have itemized lists written ahead of time so that they don’t exceed $950? Or when they try to cash stolen checks, they leave it in the ballpark of $900? Or when they steal or otherwise obtain stolen goods it’s under the dollar amount of $950? Why? They know they won’t be charged with a felony, and in some counties, they know they won’t even be charged at all. We literally gave criminals a road map as to how to avoid going to prison, evade prosecution and formal probation, and still make money. All the while we did nothing to stop it. The result? Tax bases going to ground zero, communities suffering, and businesses leaving the state giving Sacramento the finger on their way out the door. These retail stores are multi-million-dollar companies, they can deal with the ebb and flow of loss. Since the pandemic, however, retail theft has skyrocketed, and business owners are starting to see the financial impact. Any good investor or business owner knows when “the cost of doing business” starts to become a true loss of profit, they are going to get out, and quickly. In that scenario, not only did you lose the tax base, but you also lost jobs and employability. Eventually, the community members will have to make a choice, and most of them are choosing to leave. Before you know it, what was once a beautiful city by the bay, full of businesses both large and small, culture, fun, tourism, and an amazing place to visit is now one of the most dangerous places to go in California.

Along with their allocation funding, Proposition 47 also focused a lot of its verbiage on drug and rehabilitation programs. Some people will argue that Proposition 47 was not the direct cause of the homeless epidemic. I agree, but Proposition 47 did however create a direct shot highway to get there. Proposition 47 did not create more homelessness in the state of California simply upon its passing. It was initially a very slow and gradual process, but once that ball got rolling it would soon be impossible to stop. That big rolling ball was a disgusting combination of heroin, property crimes, and an unsecured border. In the years following the passing of Proposition 47, heroin was moving into California more consistently and aggressively than any other drug on the market. It was cheap, abundant, and one of the most addictive narcotics currently in existence. Unlike its drug cohorts, heroin was an opioid, and unlike meth, you didn’t stay awake all night dismantling a VCR. As the years went on, we would see record numbers of drug-related deaths, drug-related criminal activity, and a homeless population that was almost completely addicted to, or at one point consistently used, heroin. We asked ourselves as a society, how could things possibly get any worse? Little did we know, they absolutely could. (Synthetic opioids have entered the chat).

Fentanyl was the deadly icing on the cake for an already horrific and out of control homeless population. It’s important to remember that Jerry Brown was the architect of Proposition 47, and his predecessor Governor Newsom still sings its praises. Governor Newsom still to this day will not truly address the growing homelessness and drug epidemic that we have been facing for almost an entire decade. He will also never address the direct correlation between illegal drugs and homelessness, and more importantly, the illegal drugs that cross our border every day that allow the homeless/drug dependency issue to worsen. It would truly be a different feeling for society if we were seeing success in that regard, but the homeless population is steadily increasing with each passing year. For the year 2022 we saw a 30% increase overall. Nothing is changing in that regard; in fact, it’s getting significantly worse.

In hindsight, Californians didn’t pass the safe schools act; they passed a hand developed criminal marketing system that has grown into a now out of control drug and criminal enterprise with homelessness on every street corner as the visual blight. How much worse will things get before we see any real effort to address the root issues? While being an optimist is respectable, I too believed at one point that things couldn’t get worse. Now that we are here, I can only imagine what things will look like in ten years if we continue down this very dark and dangerous road. The important thing to remember is that any sort of change will never come on a societal level. Those efforts are admirable, but they will never truly make a large enough impact to inflict change.

Any real efforts that will carry significant change will come from state and local government- and in that scenario the only way we will see change is in one of three scenarios:

1. Californians stop allowing leftist or otherwise liberal policies to come to the table (not gonna happen unless we vote them out).
2. Californians vote democratic leaders out of office (probably not gonna happen any time soon).
3. Californians vote on what is best for the law abiding, tax paying, safety seeking, citizens of the state of California, and further, stop letting political allegiance to the democratic party prevent you from saying that where we are right now as a state is completely unacceptable.

Option 3 is where we need to get. I don’t care who you voted for, I don’t care what political party you associate with, none of that matters, or at least it shouldn’t, in the realm of cleaning up our streets. Politics has become such a portion of our personal identity, both right and left, that we have lost sight of the fact that we can still agree on what is morally ethical for our children’s futures. We give political leaders too much power as it is. Where we are right now as a state is a perfect example of blindly following political leadership based on party allegiance. If we aren’t careful, our options will become fewer and fewer before we have no more options, just life as it is, carnage and all.
​
At the end of the day, if you had a republican, a democrat, and an independent all in the same room, the likelihood of all three of them agreeing that they want their kids to be able to play outside until the streetlights come on is pretty much a guarantee. Get back to the basics of human interaction and making decisions based on public safety, and we will find success.