Arguments heating up in penalty-reducing Prop 47

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Some say under Proposition 47 criminals will get a slap on the wrist, but others argue it's a second chance.

The crime-fighting arguments for and against Prop 47 are heating up as we inch closer to the November election.

Prop 47 looks to drop non-violent, non-sexual and non-serious felony crimes into misdemeanors. Supporters say it will ease jail and prison overcrowding by giving some a second chance. But opponents say it's a dangerous way to increase the speed of the revolving jail door.

About two dozen religious activists began a huge push Thursday at St. Rest Baptist Church is Southwest Fresno to support Prop 47, calling it the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.

Catholic Bishop Armando Ochoa was among the speakers who believe Prop 47 would benefit the public. "Incarceration does a miserable job of educating people and treating mental illness, but that has become the norm for California," he said.

Under Prop 47 there is a promise of savings to the state by reducing prison and jail population. The promise includes transferring that savings, around a billion dollars over several years, to K-12 education, mental health and rehab programs.

"It promises to lower crime by making it legal," said Mike Reynolds, author of California's three-strikes law. "That's basically what it's saying."

Reynolds penned three strikes after his daughter, Kimber Reynolds, was killed in the Tower District in 1992.

"This is going to encourage more young people to come into a life of crime," Reynolds said. "It's going to release dangerous criminals back out on the streets, including three strikers."

The group backing Prop 47 is hoping to see funds redirected to programs that prevent crime and help people get back on a good path.

"We have a system in place that locks people out of opportunities, and doesn't give them an opportunity for second chance although they are deserving of a second chance," said Fresno State Professor of Sociology Dr. Janine Nkosi. "And I think they are."

So far several law enforcement groups, like the California Police Chiefs Association, are highly opposed to Prop 47's reduced penalties.

The jailhouse and prison reductions included in Prop 47 involve releases to community supervision, much like AB 109 does to ease jail overcrowding.

The crimes that would be reduced to misdemeanors include drug possession, forgery and shoplifting, among a host of other crimes.