California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) Saturday vetoed a
bill that would have allowed prosecutors or judges to charge simple
drug possession as a misdemeanor instead of a felony. The bill would
have made drug possession a "wobbler," meaning it could be charged
either way, based on judicial or prosecutorial discretion.
overcrowded California prison (supremecourtus.gov)
Some
10,000 people are convicted of drug possession felonies each year in
California, and experts estimated that, under the bill, 15% to 30% of
them would have been charged instead with misdemeanors. The exact number
is unknown because the bill would have left those decisions up to
prosecutors and judges. But in any case, the bill would have resulted in
hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal justice system savings,
which would have provided local governments with more flexibility to
invest in drug treatment and mental health services and focus law
enforcement resources on more serious offenses, along with lightening up
on some of the people caught up in the criminal justice system.
The bill,
Senate Bill 649,
was sponsored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and passed the
legislature with bipartisan support, but was opposed by law enforcement
and some prosecutors. Leno and supporters had argued that the bill would
save the state money on incarceration and related costs.
The bill was premature, given that a broader criminal justice system reform is in the works, Brown said in a
veto message.
"We are going to examine in detail California's criminal justice
system, including the sentencing structure," he said. "We will do so
with the full participation of all the necessary parties, including law
enforcement, local government, courts, and treatment providers. That
would be the appropriate time to evaluate our existing drug laws."
Even
after the state's vaunted prison realignment, California prisons remain
overcrowded, and the more than 4,100 people currently imprisoned on
simple drug possession charges only add to that burden. The cost of
imprisoning them comes to $207 million a year.
Under current
California law, which will now stay in place, simple possession of drugs
such as cocaine, meth, and heroin is a felony punishable by up to three
years in prison. Leno's bill left that maximum sentence in place, but
would have given either judges or prosecutors the discretion to punish
possession as a misdemeanor, with a year in jail as a maximum sentence.
Similarly, under the Leno bill, judges or prosecutors could have
diverted drug users to treatment or community programs in a bid to
reduce recidivism.
Charging drug possessors with misdemeanors
instead of felonies would also have created criminal justice system
savings with each lower-level prosecution. That's because felony charges
require a preliminary hearing, while misdemeanor charges do not.
But
law enforcement groups, including the California State Sheriffs
Association, the California Police Chiefs Association, and the
California District Attorneys Association all opposed the bill, labeling
it a threat to public safety. They argued that the bill would reduce
incentives for drug possessors to voluntarily seek drug treatment
because they would only face jail time, and the jails are so full --
thanks to prison realignment -- that people sentenced to jail time do
only a tiny fraction of that time.
Brown could have let the bill become law without his signature, Leno noted in an
interview with the Chronicle earlier this month, and pronounced himself "surprised" at the veto.
"It's
quite surprising that the governor would veto a modest attempt at
sentencing reform in light of our prison overcrowding crisis," Leno said
Saturday.
Bill supporters, including the
ACLU of California and the
Drug Policy Alliance lambasted Brown's decision to veto the bill.
"By
vetoing SB 649, Gov. Brown has thwarted the will of the voters and
their elected representatives by rejecting a modest reform that would
have helped end mass incarceration in this state," said Kim Horiuchi,
criminal justice and drug policy attorney for the ACLU of California.
"California
voters and the legislature recognize the urgent need to reevaluate our
sentencing laws and enact smart reforms, especially for low level,
non-violent drug crimes," Horiuchi continued. "Doing so will allow
California to reduce its reliance on incarceration and free up limited
resources for the sorts of community-based treatment, education and job
training programs proven to reduce crime and create safe and healthy
communities. Despite this, Gov. Brown remains inexplicably opposed to
meaningful sentencing reform."
"The governor let down the people
of California, the majority of whom support going even farther than this
bill would have gone," said Lynne Lyman, California state director for
the Drug Policy Alliance. "The vast majority of voters agree with the
experts -- locking up drug users is stupid, unproductive, cruel and
expensive."
Despite the opposition of the law enforcement establishment, California public opinion wants to see sentencing reform. A
2012 Tulchin poll
found that 75% of Californians preferred prevention and treatment as an
alternative to jail for nonviolent offenders and 62% agreed that
possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use should be a
misdemeanor.
Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia already have such laws, and an effort to pass
similar legislation is gearing up in Washington state. But in Sacramento, Gov. Brown was listening to the cops instead of the people.
"Our
system is broken," said DPA's Lyman. "Felony sentences don't reduce
drug use and don't persuade users to seek treatment, but instead, impose
tremendous barriers to housing, education and employment after release
-- three things we know help keep people out of our criminal justice
system and successfully reintegrating into their families and
communities."
