California’s Proposition 47 was a controversial ballot measure that downgraded drug and theft crimes from felonies to misdemeanors with the intent of keeping nonviolent offenders out of the state’s overcrowded prison systems. Fewer people in prison, the thinking went, meant a cost savings that could be redirected towards state services aimed at providing former inmates with the support they need to prevent them from reoffending. Since the passage of the law in 2014, however, the controversy around it has only intensified as its effects become apparent. Listen to this wide-ranging discussion with law enforcement, legal experts, and retail industry executives.
