California voters in 2014 passed a ballot proposition aiming to reduce the state’s prison population by reducing some felonies to misdemeanors, but they may also have fueled an increase in crime.
That’s the finding of a Manhattan Institute paper published Oct. 17 that lists the effects of Proposition 47, which downgraded some drug and theft crimes—including small-scale possession of certain drugs, check fraud, forgery, grand theft, and larceny—to misdemeanors.
Researchers studied data from the counties of Riverside—the state’s fourth largest by population with about 2.5 million people—and San Bernardino.
“These findings paint a powerful data picture—and suggest that similar studies should be done throughout California,” wrote Hannah E. Meyers, author of the report, director of policing and public safety at the institute, and member of the New York State Domestic Terrorism Task Force….