Two of the country’s largest retailers, Walmart and rival Target, are backing a ballot measure that would roll back California’s Proposition 47, the state’s criminal justice reform statute that has been blamed for a spike in retail theft and has forced big-box chains such as theirs to close locations.
The two mega stores have spent more than $1.5 million in support of a ballot measure that would undo the controversial 2014 voter-approved law that reduced penalties for lower-level crimes such as shoplifting. Frustrated residents and business owners have pointed to several smash-and-grab robberies at retail stores and open-air drug use on city streets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland as evidence of the law’s shortcomings and say something needs to change.
In September, Target was forced to close three California stores, as well as six others in other states, due to retail theft. According to a study by the National Retail Federation, a trade group that includes Walmart and Target, there was about $112 billion in lost merchandise and theft in 2023.
“It’s been 10 years, and we’re markedly worse than we were 10 years ago in terms of crime and lawlessness and disorder,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin told CBS News. “Something’s gotta change.”
Supporters of Proposition 47 credit the law for cutting incarceration rates, slashing prison costs, and reducing racial disparities in California’s criminal justice system.
Critics of Proposition 47 say it emboldens criminals and petty thieves who believe they can steal over and over again without facing any hard time. Sometimes, people picked up for shoplifting are back on the streets within hours.
“The public has figured out, and certainly criminals know, that they can steal in California and there’s not going to be any jail time for them,” Hestrin said. “No consequences, and they can keep doing it.”
He added that the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act “returns teeth back into the criminal justice system.”
The measure would allow prosecutors to add up charges so that the third time someone shoplifts, which is a misdemeanor, it could become a felony. Prison time would be attached to a fourth incident.
Democratic Mayors London Breed of San Francisco and Matt Mahan of San Jose have supported the ballot measure, putting them at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
“In San Francisco, we are making progress on property crimes, but the challenges we are facing related to fentanyl and organized retail theft require real change to our state laws,” Breed said. “I fully support this measure and know it will make a meaningful difference for cities across California.”
Breed’s and Mahan’s endorsements came just weeks after Newsom said making changes to Proposition 47 would not stop the wave of high-profile retail thefts that has blanketed the state. Instead, the governor’s office proposed six ways lawmakers could expand criminal penalties for organized theft without putting Proposition 47 back on the ballot.
Other backers of the new measure include Macy’s, a prison-guard union, and William Oberndorf, a businessman and political donor who was a major player in the 2022 recall effort that ousted one of San Francisco’s most progressive district attorneys, Chesa Boudin, who was funded by Democratic megadonor George Soros.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The initiative needs 546,651 signatures to qualify for the November 2024 election. It has more than 360,000.
Walmart, which has 4,600 retail locations across the country, has donated $1 million to the cause, while Target, which has 1,956 stores, has given $500,000. Target has 316 stores in California.