Groups Debate If California Has Gone Too Far On Crime Reform

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Victims’ rights advocates say California has gone too far in easing criminal penalties and want voters to reverse some of the changes. They supported a proposed ballot measure Monday that would roll back portions of two previous ballot initiatives that crime survivors, prosecutors and police chiefs say impede investigations and free violent offenders too soon. They spoke in front of photographs of crime victims outside the Capitol. But Gov. Jerry Brown, on his way out of office, is warning voters and lawmakers against repealing reduced criminal penalties. Other groups want the state to go even farther, and voters may alternately be asked to further scale back laws targeting repeat offenders. The tug of war comes amid get-tough rhetoric from the Trump administration and court decisions capping the state’s prison population.

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