SACRAMENTO, CA – Voters significantly shifted the state’s criminal justice landscape in the November 2024 elections, delivering substantial setbacks to the progressive prosecution movement, according to an analysis from Dorothy Atkins in Law360.
Atkins insists the results marked a conservative swing in criminal justice policies, with voters removing progressive prosecutors and supporting measures characterized as tougher on crime.
The Law360 story also noted tough-on-crime candidate Nathan Hochman defeated Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, securing over 61 percent of the vote. Alameda County voters recalled District Attorney Pamela Price with 64 percent support, while San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who had replaced recalled progressive Chesa Boudin in 2022, prevailed over challenger Ryan Khojasteh.
At the state level, Law360 wrote, voters approved Proposition 36, enabling prosecutors to pursue felony charges for certain drug possessions and thefts when defendants have two prior convictions. They rejected Proposition 6, which would have banned involuntary servitude as criminal punishment.
U.C. Berkeley Law Professor Jonathan Simon described this as a “prime panic election cycle,” driven rightward in part by voters erroneously assuming that crime is out of control across the Golden State despite the absence of data showing such broad increases.
As a result, voters turned against DAs who were not following a “typical tough-on-crime playbook,” Simon said to Law360.
Anne Irwin, founder and director of Smart Justice California, observed that district attorneys’ offices have become scapegoats for a broad range of crimes, as well as for problems stemming from complex public policy issues like homelessness and the opioid crisis, wrote Atkins.
The election saw unprecedented corporate involvement in local district attorney races, said the Law360 story, noting major retailers like Target, Walmart, and Home Depot each gave seven figures to local DA races, according to Irwin.
Critics contend these corporations were swayed by promises that harsher sentences would reduce retail crime, though research suggests certainty of punishment deters crime more effectively than severity, Atkins wrote.
Reform advocates maintain optimism despite these setbacks. Boudin, now executive director of UC Berkeley Law’s Criminal Law & Justice Center, highlighted reform victories in other states, including successful district attorney races in Orlando, Florida, and Austin, Texas, Atkins wrote.
Supporters argue that fundamental issues driving reform needs, such as prison overcrowding and racial disparities, remain unresolved. They view the results as an opportunity to refine their approach and enhance public communication.
Irwin emphasized to Law360, “The movement is alive and well. What we’ll do is regroup and harvest the myriad of lessons learned over the last seven years and come back stronger during the next election,” suggesting reform supporters view it as a temporary setback rather than the end of the movement.
