Op-Ed: Proposition 36 is a backward mass incarceration plan that solves nothing

As leaders of organizations and agencies that support those impacted by mass incarceration, poverty and substance use, we have a loud and urgent call to stop Proposition 36 and the irrevocable damage it will bring to our entire community if passed.

The proposition is falsely guised as an attempt to reduce crime, homelessness and substance use. In reality, the proposition will only exacerbate the issues it claims to address.

Proposition 36 is literally a proposal to go backward. It aims to overturn the advances in public safety secured through the passage of Proposition 47 in 2014. That proposition, which was overwhelmingly supported by voters, reclassified six low level felony offenses to misdemeanors and earmarked the savings secured through cost reductions in prison sentences to actual solutions: drug and mental health treatment, housing, re-entry services and more.

The initiative worked: it significantly lowered the prison population, providing millions to fund needed programs to get people back on their feet and out of a cycle of addiction, and reduced recidivism, meaning less people re-offending once released. So despite the sensational, fear-stoking propaganda of the Yes on Proposition 36 campaign, crime rates have gone down since the passage of Proposition 47.

This holds true today. The latest California Department of Justice data revealed a decrease in crime in 2023, including violent and property crime. These statistics were ironically recently shared by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as he celebrated San Jose being the “safest big city” in the Bay Area, even as he makes false claims of crime spikes to argue for Proposition 36.

This truism isn’t to discount the reality that our communities are still struggling and deserve support. Our people are suffering with trying to survive in the most expensive place to live in the country, with a lack of treatment and mental health supports, and with jails and prisons being the most significantly invested “answer” to public health, housing and economic needs. It’s why in 2022, Santa Clara County declared substance use and mental health a public health crisis rather than a reactionary demand for more incarceration.

That is why Proposition 36 being promoted as the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act” is so dangerously disingenuous. Punishing someone with a felony for a low level retail charge does not magically give them housing. Incarcerating someone with a substance abuse issue does not solve an addiction. Sending someone to prison makes them less economically stable and less likely to find employment upon return to our community saddled with a prison record.

The reality is Proposition 36’s plan to essentially vanish and warehouse homeless and poor people in prisons is as shortsighted as it is sinister. Our people will come back to us after being incarcerated, just worse off.

Tellingly, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen — someone we have often been at odds with when debating the criminal legal system — is also against Proposition 36. He rightfully pointed out that Proposition 36’s claim that it will result in “court ordered treatment” was a fool’s promise. In a Mercury News article he states, “What this initiative doesn’t do is provide more funding for drug treatment… If there’s not a bed available, you’re not addressing it.” He goes on to say, “We’re not going to punish our way out of drug addiction. We’ve tried it and it didn’t work.”

The only certain impact Proposition 36 will have is greatly expanding the prison population and depleting California of what the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates will be hundreds of millions of dollars annually. We don’t need to go back to prison overcrowding, the failed war on drugs that decimated communities of color or criminalizing public health issues. We need to say no to Proposition 36, and yes to real solutions.

Molly O’Neal is chief public defender for Santa Clara County, the Rev. Jeff Moore is president of the NAACP San Jose/Silicon Valley and Raj Jayadev is founder of Silicon Valley De-Bug.