Californians Move Right On Criminal justice: 2024 Year In Review

Californians moved right on criminal justice for the first time in more than two decades, voting for sterner sentences on minor crimes.

Those changes are expected to reverse a trend of falling prison and jail populations — but proponents hope they will also reduce street crime and open-air drug use.

The 2024 retrenchment marks a startling reversal of more than a decade of criminal justice policy in California, which was premised on reducing incarcerated populations, spending more on treatment and saving state dollars along the way.

No more. Now, Democrats in the Capitol just watched voters and legislators steamroll past their proposals for a middle ground and instead line up behind Proposition 36, which increased penalties for some theft and drug crimes.