A coalition of elected officials that Gov. Gavin Newsom dismissed as “just a couple mayors,” is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in an effort to reverse lenient rules on retail and drug crimes.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced the “Yes on 36” ballot measure committee with Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho on Aug. 14 to call for tighter laws and jail sentences on retail theft and drug crimes. But supporters of the criminal justice reforms that 2014’s Proposition 47 brought to California, said Proposition 36 will only increase the jail population and roll back funds for mental health and drug treatment programs.
Silicon Valley De-Bug founder Raj Jayadev said Proposition 36 would only ensure mass incarceration and expansion of prisons.
“Prop 36 turns back the clock to a time of failed law on drug policies, racialized criminalization of communities of color and poor people, and in the most practical ways,” Jayadev told San José Spotlight. “It is designed to incarcerate vulnerable people.”