Growing up in Sacramento and the Bay Area, we enjoyed the age of childhood innocence, not worried about our futures. We had the freedom to ride our bikes anywhere to school, parks or neighborhood shops to buy candy. It was a rare event to witness homeless individuals, let alone encampments in our parks or on our sidewalks. It was rarer to witness the human misery of drug addiction or the brazenness of thieves stealing from our local businesses. Never did we encounter merchandise or medicine locked up at stores.
As young prosecutors, we lived through the “tough on crime” era where our justice system punished people for their misdeeds but often ignored the need for rehabilitation. Over time, we learned that incarceration without rehabilitation is a recipe for failed outcomes. We learned that while consequences matter, so does compassion to help those in need. Lifting people out of addiction helps both the individual and the entire community.
In 2014, with a promise to help those in need, Californians passed Proposition 47 which reduced virtually all theft and drug crimes to misdemeanors.