California Ballot Measure Targeting Repeat Offenders Could Boost Prison Population, Analysts Say

California’s Proposition 36, a ballot measure that calls for tougher penalties on some repeat offenders, could increase the state’s prison population, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said in a Sept. 10 report. Voters in November will decide on the measure, which targets certain drug and theft offenses while offering mental health and addiction programs meant to address root causes of crime. Introduced to reform Proposition 47—passed by voters in 2014 to reduce prison populations by changing some drug and theft crimes from felonies to misdemeanors—Prop. 36 would undo some punishment reductions and allow judicial discretion to charge repeat offenders with felonies carrying sentences of up to three years....