AP15:118
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2015
CONTACT: Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Three Strikes Law. Pre-1994 Strikes. Initiative Statute.
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
THREE STRIKES LAW. PRE-1994 STRIKES. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Provides that serious or violent felonies committed before passage of the three strikes law in 1994 do not count as strikes toward three strikes sentencing. Drops definition of crimes that count as strikes for purpose of three strikes law. Requires resentencing for certain three strikes inmates (and certain two strikes inmates) who committed pre-1994 serious and/or violent felonies. Applies savings from sentencing changes to low-income middle and high schools, California Community Colleges, University of California, and prison rehabilitation programs. Removes crime of criminal threats from list of serious felonies that may not be plea-bargained. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net state criminal justice system savings that could be up to several hundred million dollars annually in the first few years following its implementation and up to the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually thereafter. These savings would be spent on high poverty middle and high schools, tuition reduction at institutions of higher education, and prison rehabilitation programs. Increased county costs that could reach into the low tens of millions of dollars annually, primarily due to increased county jail and community supervision operations. (15-0084.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1743 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0084.
The proponent of the measure, Julie A. Piccolotti, must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by June 14, 2016. The proponent can be reached at 80 Cabrillo Hwy. N., Suite Q-609, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019. No phone number was provided.
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