Different Perspectives on California Prop 47 | Matt Gonzalez

California Insider

“To make a theft a felony, keep in mind that felony cases are now going to be in a courtroom alongside homicides, rape cases, aggravated assaults, armed robberies, and you’re going to have a petty theft with a prior—where nobody served any substantial misdemeanor jail time—competing for a courtroom and resources. This distracts prosecutors from serious cases, who now have to litigate these other cases,” says Matt Gonzalez, Chief Attorney at the Public Defender’s Office in San Francisco.

Siyamak sits down with Matt Gonzalez, who will discuss Prop 47’s impact on crime and why reforming the proposition is not the solution.

“I received a couple of emails, and they were just thank-you messages saying, ‘Hey, I got my life together. I really appreciate what you did. You fought for me. You kept me from getting these felonies.’ You know, they turned their lives around, and when I was dealing with them, they were just strung-out heroin addicts. So the question is: Do we want to make a decision that satisfies public safety concerns but increases the likelihood that these accused people have a chance moving forward to turn their lives around?” says Gonzalez.