Donald Trump waded into a thorny California issue on Thursday, hitting Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for a decade-old criminal justice policy that’s returning to the ballot in November. “I didn’t know this, but you’re allowed to rob a store as long as it’s not more than $950,” Trump said. "You have thieves going into stores with calculators calculating how much it is, because if it’s less than $950 they can rob it and not get charged,” reports Politico. “That was her that did that,” Trump said of Harris, who he said has “destroyed California.” along with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump was referring to Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that reduced penalties for many theft and drug crimes. Prop 47 required that thefts of less than $950 — a limit set by California’s legislature in 2010 — be charged as a misdemeanor. (Contrary to Trump’s comments, those thefts are still a crime.)
The initiative was seen as emblematic of the state’s shift toward a more progressive stance on criminal justice issues as the state was grappling with prison overcrowding. Contrary to what Trump and other Republicans have insisted, Harris was not involved in the campaign for Prop 47 — and stayed out of many criminal justice debates during her time as attorney general. She argued that because the attorney general is responsible for writing the official titles and summaries that appear on the California ballot, it would have been inappropriate for her to take a position. Californians will vote on a new initiative, Proposition 36, that would roll back parts of Prop 47. Under Prop 36, repeat offenders of certain drug and theft crimes could be charged with a felony rather than a misdemeanor. Harris has not taken a position on the new initiative.
Comments