Result: California rejects Proposition 20 to rollback some sentencing reforms

• California rejected Proposition 20, a measure to roll back some of the criminal justice reform measures passed by voters and the legislature over the past decade.
• Both California voters and the state legislature enacted several laws to reduce California's bloated prison population that are now coming under scrutiny.
• Prop 20 would have restored some restrictions on eligibility for parole for some non-violent offenders and give prosecutors more discretion to prosecute some theft crimes as felonies rather than misdemeanors.

California rejected Proposition 20, a measure to roll back some of the criminal justice reform measures enacted both by past ballot initiatives and by legislation previously signed into law by former Gov. Jerry Brown.

Those measures were aimed at reducing California's bloated prison population after the US Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that the overcrowding in California state prisons represented "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution.

Some law enforcement critics of those laws, however, say that the measures have led to higher rates of re-offending.

Prop 20 would restore restrictions on eligibility for parole for some non-violent offenders and eliminate the possibility of early release for some violent offenders, give prosecutors more discretion to prosecute some theft crimes as felonies rather than misdemeanors, and expand mandatory DNA collection for some misdemeanor offenders, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The language of the ballot title and ballot summary, according to Ballotpedia:

"Restricts Parole for Non-Violent Offenders. Authorizes Felony Sentences for Certain Offenses Currently Treated Only as Misdemeanors. Initiative Statute.

• Limits access to parole programs established for non-violent offenders who have completed the full term of their primary offense by eliminating eligibility for certain offenses.

• Changes standards and requirements governing parole decisions under this program.

• Authorizes felony charges for specified theft crimes currently chargeable only as misdemeanors, including some theft crimes where the value is between $250 and $950.

• Requires persons convicted of specified misdemeanors to submit to collection of DNA samples for state database."

Fiscal Impact: Increase in state and local correctional, court, and law enforcement costs likely in the tens of millions of dollars annually, depending on implementation."