After going to the polls to make major decisions about California's laws, here is an update of how this election will affect the legal world of the state.
Proposition 5, which would have allocated $460 million a year to treat perpetrators of nonviolent drug-related crimes, was defeated. Backers said society would see more benefit from treatment than incarceration, while opponents contended the measure would decriminalize drugs and let dangerous criminals avoid jail.
Meanwhile, an effort to boost police funding by up to $965 million a year under Proposition 6 also lost. Backers argued that law enforcement receives too little state money, but foes said the measure would have stripped funding from more important priorities such as schools.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys watched both of these issues closely, and it was a mixed bag. While fewer police means fewer arrests, not being able to send drug offenders to rehab is a major headache.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys were unhappy however with Proposition 9, a bid to boost the rights of crime victims and restrict early prisoner releases, which won approval. The measure will provide mandatory restitution to victims, allow them to avoid cooperating in a criminal defense, boost the maximum wait for a parole hearing to 15 years, and let an unlimited number of a victim's family members testify at parole hearings.
Opponents argued that such changes would prove burdensome to the criminal justice process, improperly make victims party to criminal cases, potentially violate offenders' constitutional rights and increase incarceration costs.
