Summary
A voter-approved ballot measure that reduced penalties for certain drug and property crimes applies to prisoners convicted under plea deals, the California Supreme Court said Thursday.
A unanimous court overruled a lower court decision that could have limited the number of inmates eligible for Proposition 47’s benefits. The 2014 proposition requires misdemeanor rather than felony sentencing for certain property and drug crimes and permits inmates previously sentenced for these reclassified crimes to petition for resentencing.
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“There are obviously some people in this situation, but the vast majority of people who could benefit from this ruling already have,” said Michael Romano, a lecturer at Stanford Law School who co-authored Proposition 47.
Romano and other experts said the state Supreme Court got the decision right.
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