As felony case filings spike as a result of Proposition 36, many prosecutors, behavioral health professionals and public defenders are hoping for more state funding to meet the increased demand for treatment services.
Steve Wagstaffe
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the county has seen about 500 Proposition 36 cases since it went into effect in December. The measure implements harsher penalties than the previous Proposition 47, which kept most drug possession and shoplifting charges as misdemeanors, no matter the number of offenses. Now, an offender’s third shoplifting or drug possession charge becomes a felony, which could carry a jail or prison sentence — though drug charges could be dismissed upon successfully completing a treatment program.
“Felony cases take an enormous amount more work than a misdemeanor that would have closed out at the first court appearance,” Wagstaffe said.
But with the state facing an estimated $12 billion deficit, proponents of the measure, including the California District Attorneys Association, say they are concerned that not enough funding has been dedicated to ensuring treatment and supervision.
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“For us, you can’t have meaningful treatment without supervision and accountability,” said Greg Totten, CEO of the California District Attorneys Association. “Without more funding, it’s a return to treatment without accountability, which is a return to Prop. 47, what voters rejected.”
Totten said the CDAA hoped to see about $250 million for Proposition 36 funds, with about $100 million for behavioral health services and $50 million dedicated to probation, as well as additional funds for the court and other services. In the state Senate’s budget, about $50 million was allocated for behavioral health, with $30 million for the courts and $15 million for public defenders. Pretrial and supervision services are also inadequate, he said.
In San Mateo County, Proposition 36-induced treatment participation was slow to pick up, possibly in part due to the slower pace of felony proceedings compared to misdemeanors. As of March, only two referrals to treatment had been made, and the court had yet to even adopt a treatment plan for the Proposition 36 offenders. But since then, Wagstaffe said more individuals have started to opt for treatment, and a dedicated Proposition 36 court has been established.
“Because of the increased felonies, my felony prosecutors are seeing their caseloads go up by 20, 30 cases. They now have too heavy a load, so it would be wonderful to have funding to expand,” Wagstaffe said. “There were a lot of ideas that if it passed, and the Legislature saw that this was the will of the people … they would be able to support it.”
The measure passed in all California’s 58 counties and passed by nearly 70% statewide.
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