California is getting quite a bit of national attention, as Kamala Harris has called our state a “role model” for the rest of the country. Yet those of us who live here know: when it comes to crime, homelessness, and much more, California is just the opposite.
Harris was California Attorney General when Prop. 47 and Prop. 57 took effect. The former, of course, we are about to end – though Newsom is still fighting our initiative even as a new report shows shoplifting has reached a 25-year high.
Prop. 57, passed two years later, made tens of thousands of serious criminals eligible for early release. Voters were deceived into passing it based on the Attorney General’s ballot summary, which falsely claimed it applied only to “non-violent” offenders.
In reality, the initiative allowed early release for rape, human trafficking, domestic violence, and a whole list of heinous offenses. This is a major reason violent crime is so much higher here than in the rest of the country.
I recently highlighted the case of a 2022 mass shooting that killed 6 people in Sacramento. The shooter should have been prison, having been sentenced to 10 years for a heinous act of domestic violence. But he was let out in less than half that time thanks to Prop. 57.
Yet the lesson still has not been learned. Just yesterday, Newsom’s Finacne Department opposed a bill making it a felony to sexually exploit trafficked children, claiming the legislation is too expensive. This is horrifying; we must pressure the Legislature to override this opposition.
Meanwhile, a federal audit just found the state’s homelessness agency allowed rampant fraud; this comes after a state audit found the Newsom Administration “lost track” of $24 billion in funding. The pieces are coming together.
The good news is, thanks to our Supreme Court victory, homeless encampments are at this very moment being removed in several cities. And Prop. 47’s days are numbered. Plenty of insanity remains, but there is hope for California.