OC DA Todd Spitzer on New Shoplifting Charges Under Prop 36

Shoplifting in the state of California became a felony on January 1. That’s because Californians overwhelmingly approved Prop 36 last year.

“In my county where I’m the district attorney, we’re the sixth largest District Attorney (DA)’s office in the country,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told Fox News. “We don’t play.”

Spitzer was being interviewed by the conservative television news network about two young black women who were discussing the new law in the back of a patrol car after being caught for alleged shoplifting, which went viral on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, X and other social media outlets.

“Voters in California recently just got fed up with all these smash and grab crimes everywhere as a result of a lack of serious consequences for rampant shoplifting,” DA Spitzer said. “The people really wanted some severe changes when it came to what was happening in California.”

Voters approved Prop 36 by 68.52% on November 5 after Prop 47 was blamed for ‘smash and grab’ burglaries at department stores by bands of thieves.

Under Prop 47, the prosecution of thefts below $950 were downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors.

“We have the ability to charge felonies for repeat shoplifters,” DA Spitzer said. “We can accumulate the dollar amount for repeat thefts by an individual so we don’t have to wait for it to hit $950. We can use all of their open cases against them to add up to the cumulative $950.”

Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) data shows that retail theft increased statewide by 16% from 2019 to 2022. While California voters approved Prop 47 in November 2014, the passage of Prop 36 restored felony charges for theft.

“There are two doors offered to individuals like these two women in the police car,” DA Spitzer told Fox News. “You either go into treatment, you go into a program where you work on your drug issue or your theft issue, or you’re going to jail. We’re trying to be compassionate and understanding but at the end of the day, we are finally getting back to accountability.”

Read More:

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Felony charges bring severe penalties, including longer prison sentences and a lasting criminal record, which can make it difficult for individuals to reintegrate into society, find employment, and secure housing.

So, for low-income individuals who steal out of desperation rather than malice, this could result in a lifelong cycle of punishment, according to criminal defense attorney Chris Walsh. “Elevating shoplifting to a felony in appropriate cases can have merit, but it can come at the expense of fairness or disproportionately impact vulnerable populations,” Counselor Walsh told OrangeCountyLawyers.com. “We need policies that address crime as well as its root causes to ensure the justice system serves everyone equitably.”

For communities and business owners who feel vulnerable, Prop 36 could be restoring some confidence in the legal system on the surface but Counselor Walsh added that trying more cases as felonies rather than misdemeanors, may strain the court system.

“It could increase costs for taxpayers and divert resources from addressing more serious crimes,” Walsh added. “It’s also important to consider the racial and economic disparities in how these laws will be applied because minority and low-income communities often face harsher enforcement.”

Prop 36 further holds offenders accountable for sales of illicit Fentanyl more strictly. Some 80% of drug-related deaths among youths statewide are deaths by Fentanyl overdose, according to the California Department of Education.

Under the new law, defendants convicted of trafficking Fentanyl are held accountable in the same way as dealers of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.

“If you are a seller of drugs and you kill somebody, we can charge you with murder,” DA Spitzer added. “We can charge felonies for individuals who use drugs with repeat offenses. We have the ability on smash-and-grab [thefts] to charge them…when there’s two or more individuals…with a new crime.”

Screenshot courtesy of KCAL news YouTube