For better but often worse, California’s direct democracy system enables voters to change state law. In 2014 voters approved a George Soros-backed initiative, Prop. 47, that made drug possession and theft of less than $950 misdemeanors. Advocates including Gov. Gavin Newsom said this would save money for taxpayers.

The social costs have far exceeded any savings. Prosecutors had been able to leverage jail time to compel drug addicts into treatment. No more. As a result, vagrancy, open-air drug use and mental illness have proliferated. Organized crime rings plunder stores and freight trains with impunity. On Oct. 4, two dozen people ransacked a Nordstrom store west of Los Angeles that had been looted by another crew of masked thieves in August 2023. Violent crime has surged by some 35% since 2014—about four times as much as nationwide.

Enter Prop. 36, a Nov. 5 initiative that would restore penalties as a criminal deterrent and rehabilitation inducement. Shoplifters with two or more past theft convictions could be charged with felonies. Sentences would also be enhanced for organized crime. Drug traffickers would have to serve time in state prison rather than county jail.