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Government,
Criminal

Aug. 26, 2024

Debate over Prop 47 and homelessness rekindled by Prop 36

Homelessness in California went up in the decade since voters passed criminal law changes, counter to what happened elsewhere in the U.S. Critics and proponents of a new ballot measure are split on whether Proposition 47 is to blame.

Photo courtesy of Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig's office.

Critics of Proposition 47 have long claimed that it increased homelessness by removing incentives for people to receive addiction treatment instead of jail sentences. The claim has now become a key talking point for the Proposition 36 campaign.

The rhetoric around the initiative to scale back portions of the 2014 criminal justice law changes has revived an old debate: Is homelessness mainly driven by addiction and mental illness, or by economics?

Yolo County District Atto...

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