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California Proposition 47 For Shoplifting
Source:
Penal Code (Criminal Law) 459.5 PC – California Shoplifting Laws –
Proposition 47: The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=459.5.#
459.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 459, shoplifting is defined as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). Any other entry into a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny is burglary. Shoplifting shall be punished as a misdemeanor, except that a person with one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 may be punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(b) Any act of shoplifting as defined in subdivision (a) shall be charged as shoplifting. Prosecutors may not charge a person with both shoplifting and burglary or theft of the same property.
(Added November 4, 2014, by initiative Proposition 47, Sec. 5.)
Opinion:
This ‘wacky’ statute demonstrates how California legislators leverage criminal law. Typically, the guilty mind constitutes the most essential element of a criminal offence. And, prior to this initiative, authorities charged shoplifting as burglary under a felony regardless of the value of stolen property if they established intention.
Now, 459.5 (a) emphasizes the value rather than fault. The maximum penalty of $1,000 may not deter any ‘newly converted thieves’, resulting in the straightforward outcome of setting the threshold at $950: thieves starts bringing calculators into stores. The statute almost removes the ”punitive nature” of the law.
Specifically, the words ‘’may’ and ‘shall’’, linked to the burglary and shoplifting respectively, indicate that legislators intended to compulsorily charge shoplifting as a misdemeanor, while leaving any additional charge, such as burglary, for discretion.
Although this aligns with the purpose of the law (Provision 47 FAQ), which aims to reduce prison spending used solely for felonies, it consequently generates more misdemeanors for the ‘public good’, thus leading to the complaints from the retail industry about the increase in criminal rate.
I’m of a view that leftist legislators intended to undermine small businesses by ‘legalizing shoplifting’.
Extrinsic Materials:
Proposition 47: The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act
2014 – Voter Information Guide for 2014, General Election
Links:
Brazen – San Francisco Law Legalizing Shoplifting Forces Closure of Small Stores Leaving Residents Without
In California you can steal anything you need from a store, as long as it doesn’t add up to over 900 dollars.