Vargas
People v. Vargas
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Flier, J.
*1419 INTRODUCTION
"On November 4, 2014, voters enacted Proposition 47, 'The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.' It was intended to 'ensure that prison spending is focused on violent and serious offenses, to maximize alternatives for nonserious, nonviolent crime, and to invest the savings generated from this act into prevention and support programs in K-12 schools, victim services, and mental health and drug treatment.' (Ballot Pamp., Gen. Elec. (Nov. 4, 2014) text of Prop. 47, § 2, p. 70.) To that end, Proposition 47 reduced most possessory drug offenses and thefts of property valued at less than $950 to straight misdemeanors and created a process for persons currently serving felony sentences for those offenses to petition for resentencing for misdemeanors. (See Couzens & Bigelow, Proposition 47 'The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act' (Aug. 2015) p. 6....)" ( People v. Buycks (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 519 , 521, 194 Cal.Rptr.3d 33 .)
Penal Code section 459.5 1 was among the provisions added by Proposition 47. It reduces certain second degree burglaries to misdemeanors by defining them as "shoplifting," that is, "entering a commercial establishment with the intent to commit…