By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey

‌California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

Six months after California’s Prop 36 took effect, early data shows a rise in arrests — with the law disproportionately affecting Black communities in some parts of the state.

Also known as the “Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act,” the measure was overwhelmingly passed by voters in the November 2024 general election. Prop 36 increased penalties for certain drug and theft crimes, reclassifying some as felonies, and lengthened sentences for specific offenses, particularly those involving multiple individuals or the sale of certain drugs.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), the vice chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), raised concerns about the effects of Prop 36.

“Instead of a war on poverty, California’s legal system has initiated a war on poor people,” Bryan told California Black Media (CBM). “We deserve better. We have to fight for the economic opportunities our community deserves.”

According to a report by Voice of San Diego, via San Diego Census and San Diego Police Department, data shows that 32% of 374 people arrested for Prop 36-related drug or theft charges in the city from the middle of December through May were Black. Out of 1.9 million residents, Black people make up 5.6% of the city’s population.

Ricardo D. García, the Chief Public Defender for Los Angeles County, shared with CBM that Prop 36 cases have risen since the law went into effect on Dec. 18, 2024.

“Poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness are driving factors,” he says.

“Prop 36 disproportionately hurts Black, Brown, and immigrant communities,” García said. “We are already under-resourced. Prop 36 and its treatment mandates are meaningless if there’s no bed, no place for someone to go to.”

Before Prop 36 became law, the L.A. County jails had a population of just over 11,000 inmates, but it quickly rose above 12,000, and reached over 13,000 in May, before falling to the “12,900 range” before the 4th of July holiday.

“We saw 12 arrests before Prop 36 on these types of offenses and since May of 2025, we are looking at 594 arrests,” García said.

According to the L.A. County’s Public Defender’s Office’s website, 700 attorneys are employed within 32 office locations. Garcia said each public defender has a case load, and Prop 36 is increasingly becoming a burden for the largest county in the state.

Garcia continued, “As the public defender of Los Angeles County, the largest and the first public defender office in the country, I’m committed to standing with every group that understands Prop 36 is doing more harm than good.”

Prop 36 emerged as a policy response to rising concerns across the state about crimes like shoplifting, smash-and-grabs and other forms of property theft. The bill’s language and provisions, in many ways, respond to Prop 47, legislation passed in 2014 that significantly lowered penalties for a range of non-serious, nonviolent drug and property crimes.

Prop 47 reclassified certain felonies as misdemeanors, downgrading punishments for specific nonviolent crimes like drug possession for personal use; petty theft, shoplifting, and receipt of stolen property under $950; and forgery and check fraud under $950.

According to a report Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) report, early data from Prop 36 implementation shows that prosecutors have filed thousands of new felony drug and theft charges.

For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Gov. Gavin Newsom has allocated about $110 million in funding for Prop. 36 implementation. About $65 million of it has been specifically earmarked for counties. Another $50 million will go to behavioral health departments and $15 million to support courts and public defenders across the state.

Newsom, who did not support Prop. 36 before it was added as a ballot measure, explained to CBM during a Zoom call on June 26 how his administration computed the Prop 36 funding.

“We are estimating that it would increase at a cost of over $130,000 per year (for each prison inmate),” Newsom said. “That would put pressure on some of the other criminal justice reforms that have been proven very successful, and (Prop 36) would slow down the reduction of the total number of prison closures at a cost to the taxpayers,” Newsom shared.

Legislative Republicans, however, were advocating for $400 million to support Prop 36 implementation.

The lawmakers also pushed ongoing funding.

“This initiative was passed by the people, and I think they wanted ongoing funding,” Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach)  told CBM in his Capitol Swing Space Annex office. “I can’t recall the last initiative that passed all 58 counties — even those liberal counties like Marin and San Francisco voted for this.”

Strickland said $110 million doesn’t scratch the surface.

Yoel Haile, the Director of the Criminal Justice Program at the ACLU of Northern California (NorCal ACLU), penned a commentary about the number of Prop 36 cases that are popping up in the Bay Area.

About 90% of the people from north Alameda County — Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland — charged under Prop 36 are Black, while Black people make up just 10% of Alameda County’s total population, according to Haile’s commentary co-written with Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods.

Many of the cases, Haile told CBM, involve individuals committing petty theft to attain necessities such as food, toothpaste, diapers, and soap. Two or more prior convictions for theft-related offenses could lead to a felony charge that results in a sentence of up to three years in county jail or state prison.

“Arresting someone for that and giving them a record is not going to solve their problem,” Haile said. “We have to push D.A.s not to criminalize and charge everything that comes across their desk.”