People v. James CA2/3

DISCUSSION

In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. (People v. Page (2017) 3 Cal.5th 1175, 1179.) Proposition 47 “reduced the punishment for certain theft- and drug-related offenses, making them punishable as misdemeanors rather than felonies.” (Ibid.) Proposition 47 also added section 1170.18, which permits an eligible person serving a sentence for an enumerated theft or drug offense to petition for recall of the sentence and resentencing. (§ 1170.18, subds. (a), (b).) A person who has already completed a felony sentence for an enumerated offense may petition to have the conviction redesignated as a misdemeanor. (§ 1170.18, subds. (f), (g).) The relief afforded by section 1170.18, subdivision (i), however, “does not apply to a person who has one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290.” “That is, if a person has a prior conviction for one of the so-called super strikes, . . . he or she is expressly disqualified from Proposition 47 relief.” (People v.…