If you live in the State of California, you have no doubt been bamboozled with an onslaught of political ads for all the Propositions on the ballot at tomorrow’s election. One initiative that has received somewhat less coverage is Proposition 47, “Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute.” This Proposition, if enacted, will make certain drug and property crimes misdemeanors instead of felonies, greatly reducing the amount of incarceration required for such a conviction.

My suggestion is to VOTE YES ON PROP 47! Here’s why:

1. MONEY: Prop 47 will save us loads of money; according to the State website, savings would be “potentially in the high hundreds of millions of dollars annually.” There would be 3,000 fewer people who are convicted of low-level crimes sent to State Prison each year, along with thousands fewer sent to County Jail. So the financial benefit extends not only to the State, but also to Los Angeles County, which has long suffered from grave budget deficits.

2. CRIME PREVENTION: According to the State website, savings resulting from the measure will be “used to support school truancy and dropout prevention, victim services, mental health and drug abuse treatment, and other programs designed to keep offenders out of prison and jail.” In other words, instead of spending millions per year in locking people up, the State will have more money to invest in our youth and in programs that help keep them on the straight and narrow before they go down that dark path of drug abuse.

3. EXEMPTIONS: The Proposition does not apply to defendants who have a prior conviction for a “serious or violent crime” nor will it apply to sex offenders. So if you are concerned about drug dealers being put back on the street, chances are this law will not apply in that type of case. Also this proposition does not apply to crimes of violence against a person, so if someone is injured or killed during the commission of a crime, there would be no leniency given as a result of Prop 47.

Prop 47 would also allow those who are already incarcerated under the applicable sections of the penal code to petition for resentencing. This too would free up a huge amount of State funds to be re-appropriated to other areas in the State’s budget. Moreover, Prop 47 would allow those who have already served out their felony sentence to petition the court to have their felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor (and thereafter expunged), which would renew their voting rights and greatly increase employability.

Overall, Prop 47 seems like a great idea and I strongly encourage all Californians to vote YES ON PROPOSITION 47!

For more specifics on Prop 47, see: http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/47/analysis.htm
See also: http://www.prop47impacts.org

For more information on the other ballot initiatives, see: http://www.voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/

On Friday, the prosecution’s case crumbled against professional tennis umpire Lois Goodman, leading to all charges being dismissed. Goodman was accused of murder after the death of her 80-year-old husband, Alan Goodman, earlier this year.

According to the Los Angeles Times, LAPD first agreed with Lois Goodman’s account of the story, that her ailing husband had fallen down a flight of stairs. A few days later, the coroner’s office claimed that a wound to Alan Goodman’s head was consistent with having been struck with a sharp object. Homicide was alleged and suspicions turned to Lois.

Now, it appears as though the authorities have come to their senses and dropped their case against the 70-year-old grandmother, who has had to face an awful ideal after the death of her husband. One of Goodman’s lawyers, Alison Triessl, is a friend and colleague of mine. Among other things, Triessl was able to show that Lois Goodman suffered from various physical ailments that prevented her from being capable of the brutality alleged by the district attorney. The prosecution’s case was also lacking in motive, and an independent medical examiner concluded that the wounds suffered by Alan Goodman could very well have been caused by an accident. One expert also found that Goodman was likely to have died from heart failure, citing the fact that Goodman’s heart was four times larger than a normal heart.