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In California, voters have shifted to the right on crime. They overwhelmingly approved a statewide measure that stiffens penalties for certain drug and theft offenses, and voters in Los Angeles and the Bay Area ousted two progressive county district attorneys. So what's driving this shift? NPR's Kelly McEvers reports.
KELLY MCEVERS, BYLINE: Alan Oskouian is sitting at his work desk at the jewelry store he owns in Irvine, California, pushing tiny little diamonds into rows of 10 with a set of sharp-looking tweezers.
ALAN OSKOUIAN: This bracelet, we need to put - diamonds go in here.
MCEVERS: Last summer, Oskouian was sitting in the same chair one day when three men rushed into the store, then smashed all the display cases with sledgehammers.
OSKOUIAN: And you can imagine the sound. It was deafening.
MCEVERS: The whole thing took a total of one minute and 20 seconds. The thieves took every single piece of jewelry in the showroom, close to $1 million worth. Oskouian says his hand still shakes - not good for a jeweler.
OSKOUIAN: I keep praying and praying that this will go away sometime.
MCEVERS: A year after the robbery, Oskouian said he did his homework about all the ballot initiatives here in California. One was Proposition 36, which imposes tougher penalties for certain drug and theft offenses, making crimes that used to be misdemeanors felonies. To be clear, the burglary at Oskouian's store would already have been classified as a felony. But he says what happened to him, plus other theft crimes he was hearing about and seeing in the news, made up his mind.
OSKOUIAN: I thought this thing should pass.
MCEVERS: So, like close to 70% of California voters, he voted yes on Prop 36. The measure rolls back a previous law from 2014 that eased punishment for some crimes.
ADEWALE ODUYE: It's interesting to see just how much we've changed since George Floyd's murder, which was only four years ago.
MCEVERS: Adewale Oduye was a prosecutor in LA from 2008 to 2020.
ODUYE: We went from talking about criminal justice reform, real interest in trying to change and reform the system, to now it's like the total opposite.
MCEVERS: Oduye says the big problem is the perception of crime. Violent crime is down in California since the pandemic, as it is around the country. But property crimes are up in some places.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Ain't going to let racism...
UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Turn me around, turn me around, turn me around.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Turn me around, turn me around.
MCEVERS: At a rally for social justice groups the day after the election, activists with Black Lives Matter say they worry this new tough-on-crime law will increase the number of people in prison. They're also worried about the defeat of progressive LA County prosecutor George Gascon, who lost to Nathan Hochman, a Republican turned independent who promised to end what he called Gascon's pro-criminal policies.
CHIQUITA TWYMAN: Let's say his name. Ryan Twyman.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Ryan Twyman.
MCEVERS: Chiquita Twyman's brother, Ryan Twyman, was killed by an LA County sheriff's deputy in 2019. That officer was sentenced to 30 days in jail and now is not allowed to work in law enforcement. Chiquita Twyman says if it hadn't been for Gascon...
TWYMAN: There wasn't going to be a conviction. There wasn't going to be anyone held accountable.
MCEVERS: Twyman says she and Black Lives Matter will continue to fight for accountability no matter who's in office.
Kelly McEvers, NPR News, Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF RHIANNON GIDDENS' "MOUNTAIN BANJO") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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