Votes on seven ballot measures in Arizona, California and Colorado reflect a stricter approach to crime, with voters and policymakers concerned about retail theft, homelessness, fentanyl misuse and challenges in police recruitment and retention, reports Stateline. Voters prefer to adopt progressive criminal justice changes “somewhat less aggressively,” said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist now teaching political communications at two California places. “Voters are always course correctors. They’re always adjusting and readjusting, trying to calibrate policy exactly the way they want it,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for them to try to pull back on a reform effort that they think might be going too far.” Leaders in both blue and red states — including California, Georgia, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont — have been shifting away from liberal initiatives aimed at reining in police powers and reimagining criminal legal systems. They have embraced harsher penalties for retail theft and possession or distribution of certain hard drugs, added more offenses requiring cash bail, and moved to prohibit local governments from altering police traffic stop policies.
This month, Arizona, California and Colorado voters overwhelmingly backed measures to increase prison time for certain crimes, revoke bail for others and crack down on illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Gallup’s annual crime survey found that fewer people compared with last year believe national crime has increased or consider crime an “extremely” or “very” serious problem, but a majority of adults, 56%, still do. Regarding a new California measure that reclassifies certain drug offenses as “treatment-mandated felonies, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig said, “It’s not the hope or the intention to send a bunch of people to jail or prison who are using drugs. The goal is to incentivize people to engage in treatment again.” Some Democrats and criminal justice advocacy groups have argued that the measure could reintroduce drug war policies and result in longer prison sentences. A new Arizona proposition gives police the authority to arrest noncitizens who do not have legal authorization to enter or live in the U.S. Enforcement of the law may depend on court decisions. The measure adds a new state felony penalty for selling fentanyl manufactured outside the U.S. that results in another person’s death.