License to Steal
Brent E. Zepke, Esq.
Get ‘em While They’re Hot!
“License to Steal” is a 1990 Hong Kong action film directed by Billy Chan. It is the story of a thief seeking revenge after being double-crossed and sent to prison.
It is fiction.
Licenses to steal, a 2024 California action, is the story of multiple thefts.
It is nonfiction.
Qualifications
Q. For a California license to steal, are there any educational requirements?
No.
Experience required?
No.
References?
No.
Interviews?
No.
Physical requirements?
Not really, but you must be able to wear a hoodie, run – or at least walk – carrying a bundle.
What is a license to steal?
A de facto license for an activity can be said to exist when the people with the authority to oppose anyone from doing the activity do not.
For example, a de facto license to drive can be said to exist if the authorities to oppose that activity do not.
How were licenses to steal created?
Proposition 47 was passed by the California legislature and signed into law by the governor
.
Proposition 47
California's licenses to steal began with Attorney General Kamala Harris, in 2014, who supported “The Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act,” aka Prop 47, that reduced a host of felonies to misdemeanors, including drug crimes and all thefts under $950, even for repeat offenders who steal every day, and removed law enforcement’s ability to make an arrest in most circumstances.
How did Prop 47 launch California’s licenses to steal?
Prop 47, by converting felonies to misdemeanors gave thefts a "Get out of jail" card for thefts up to $950 per theft, with no limit on the number of thefts.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris either knew, or should have known, this violated the "rule."
Early in my career when a potential client walked into in my law office in Tennessee and answered my question “Have you ever been convicted of a crime,” with “Yes, 144 times but it is okay because they all were misdemeanors,” I learned the "rule."
What is the “rule?”
“Felonies are a deterrence because violators get prosecuted: misdemeanors are only a nuisance because violators do not get prosecuted.
Retail Thefts
Much as Prop 47 “set-the-stage” for licenses to steal in California, the failure to prosecute anyone in the 574 riots, thefts, and arsons, that followed the death of George Floyd, "set-the-stage" nationally, particularly in blue states.
The magnitude of these movements forced stores to change their labels from "shrinkage" to “smash and grab.”
In 2023, Los Angeles obtained the dubious distinction of being ranked number one in the U.S. in retail thefts, San Francisco-Oakland number two, according to the National Retail Security Survey.
Even the capital of California – Sacramento – ranked 7th.
Licenses in Sacramento
Where can I use such a license in Sacramento?
At the aptly named “Target” stores, which in 2023 were forced to make 375 calls –more than one a day – to the police for thefts, robberies, and shoplifting.
Did the authorities arrest anyone?
Not yet. Indeed, in the 90 minutes it took for the police to respond to the last call, even anyone in a walker probably could have waddled away.
Is the problem increasing?
Dramatically, as three Sacramento Target stores made 87 calls for help with thefts in 2021, 175 in 2022, and 375 in 2023, an increase of 331% in just two years.
Who is issuing issues these licenses?
The Sacramento City Attorney’s Office.
Sacramento City Attorney’s Office
On July 10, 2024, the Sacramento City Attorney’s Office "made it official" by threatening Target with being charged as a public nuisance with an administrative fine, for reporting too many thefts, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Both the City Attorney’s Office and the Sacramento Police said they were unaware –such a nice word to avoid agreeing, or denying, something.
Sacramento
Sacramento ranked #2, behind Baltimore, as the dirtiest city in sanitation, according to the Globe.
Residents living near the Target stores say the location is not doing enough to combat violence and theft, according to CBS Sacramento.
Target’s attempt to do massive remodeling in the early 2000s was blocked by the neighborhood association, including their demands Target build an outdoor seating area for a food court on a blighted boulevard, perhaps as a way to thwart theft.
Sacramento’s response
Councilman Rick Jennings II, speaking for the other seven members of the City Council, Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood – all Democrats – were joined by Police Chief Katherine Lester, affiliation unknown, announced they planned to meet with representatives from Target.
To offer support?
Not exactly, as these folks want Target to create a plan pursuant to the “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design” program.
This would include “placement of security measures such as alarms, cameras, and security personnel,” implementing “light fixtures, landscaping, wayfinding and space activation measures.”
Prop 47 revisited
Politicians are seeking ways to defeat the initiative to revoke Prop 47 in the upcoming 2024 general election. Instead, Governor Gavin Newsom supports a 14-bill package to tighten the penalties for theft.
Assemblymen Rick Chavez and Robert Rivas have proposed Bill 2943 that modifies, rather than revokes, Prop 47, by allowing prosecutors to aggregate property crimes, which the 62 Democrats, versus 17 Republicans, in the Assembly, will probably pass. These will amount to efforts in futility unless, and until, theft is restored to be a felony.
Solution
To extend the quote of Robert Kennedy that “Elections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.” The ultimate responsibility for fighting crimes does not lie with elected politicians. It lies with citizens – you and me – to decide who we elect as well as which initiatives to vote for, or against, such as Prop 47.
Vote to revoke California’s licenses to steal. Reject Prop 47.
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Thanks, Brent. I find it so offensively looney that our government under Newsom claims it's doing good for humanity and helping poor people have a better life by enforcing this Prop. This is not how you help poor people. I grew up in Santa Barbara. My step dad was head of the Boys and Girls Clubs here for 38 years. He actually did help poor kids have better lives. In fact, after he retired, we'd often be out in Santa Barbara and some man would come up to him and thank him for showing him how to realize his dreams in honest, hard working ways. This happened so many times. Once I took him to the ER and the male nurse attending to him said “You probably don't recognize me now that I'm a middle aged guy, but when I was a teen you saved me from becoming a gang member. I stole a skate board and you put me straight. And now I have a great life rather than a life in jail because of you. Thank you.” Of course, Newsom's made it so that guy wouldn't have to go to jail today, he could keep stealing skateboards. But will these current thieves thank Newsom with tears in their eyes years from now? No. Because Newsom is not only ruining the lives of business owners and people who pay for their shopping - he's ruining the lives of all the poor people who live in California, too.
We are living with the consequences of misguided “ compassion.” It is not love to fail to disciple your children or criminals.
Failure to seriously punish someone for theft gives theft a pass. These crazy ideas start in our homes. Raising children is the most important and difficult job a person will ever have. If children get away with disobedience, lying, theft, disrespect, all the sins we are all prone to, these behaviors become the accepted family norm. How often do you see a child having a public tantrum, and wonder at the incompetence of the adult with them in handling the situation? Fast forward to when these feral children grow up, and their inept parents become progressive city council members, school board members, judges and district attorneys. Raising children who are obedient and respectful should be a pre requisite for consideration for a leadership position. In fact, this is Biblical wisdom. Witness the obvious dichotomy of Hunter Biden and the grown children of Trump. Voting for people, incompetent as parents, many of who never ran their own business, has consequences. The disaster we see in California and other blue areas is a clear demonstration of this.