California Black Media
Commentary: Finding the Right Balance — Addressing Organized Retail Theft While Upholding Civil Liberties
Organized retail theft is a significant issue that impacts both consumers and businesses. While it is crucial to address theft and protect businesses from losses, we should also be mindful of safeguarding individuals’ constitutional rights, particularly the right to due process. AB 1990 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, also known as the STOP Act, raises concerns about the balance between addressing theft effectively and ensuring civil liberties are upheld.
By Assemblymember Tina McKinnor | Special to California Black Media Partners
Organized retail theft is a significant issue that impacts both consumers and businesses. While it is crucial to address theft and protect businesses from losses, we should also be mindful of safeguarding individuals’ constitutional rights, particularly the right to due process.
AB 1990 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, also known as the STOP Act, raises concerns about the balance between addressing theft effectively and ensuring civil liberties are upheld. This bill allows law enforcement officers to make warrantless arrests for shoplifting offenses not witnessed by the officer, as long as there is reasonable cause to believe the individual committed the crime. This bill has a dangerous potential for overreach and infringes on civil liberties, particularly the right to due process.
While the stated intention behind the STOP Act is to combat organized retail theft and protect businesses, there are valid concerns that this bill is an overreach and that existing law works, if properly enforced by our partners in law enforcement. A petty theft involving property stolen valued at $950 or less may be charged as a felony or misdemeanor (called a wobbler) if the offender has the following prior convictions: 1) at least on prior petty or theft-related conviction for which a term of imprisonment was served, and 2) a prior conviction for a serious or violent offense, for any registerable sex offense, or for embezzlement from a dependent adult or anyone over the age of 65. A misdemeanor can result in a sentence of up to one year in jail, whereas a felon can mean incarceration for 16 months, two years or three years. Let’s look at shoplifting in California. It occurs when a suspect enters a store, while that establishment is open, intending to steal property worth less than $950. The crime is considered a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in the county jail.
Granting officers the authority to arrest individuals based on reasonable cause, without witnessing the crime firsthand, can lead to negative consequences and possible violations of individual rights. Probable cause is the legal standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal and for the courts to issue a search warrant. A grand jury uses the probable cause standard to determine whether or not to issue a criminal indictment. The principle behind the probable cause standard is to limit the power of authorities to conduct unlawful search and seizure of a person or its property, and to promote formal, forensic procedures for gathering lawful evidence for the prosecution of the arrested criminal. Reasonable cause does not require any of this due process and only requires that an officer reasonably believes that a crime has been committed. It is essential to find a middle ground that effectively addresses organized retail theft without compromising the fundamental rights of individuals.
California’s current laws, including the use of witness statements and surveillance evidence are sufficient for addressing suspected shoplifting and organized retail theft. California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently prosecuted Michelle Mack, a suspected organized smash and grab ringleader who paid twelve women to travel around California and commit over $8 million in retail theft at 21 different stores. AG Bonta used California’s current laws to have the suspect arrested and brought to justice.
The State of California is also making significant investments to address retail theft. Just this past year California invested an additional $267 million to combat organized retail theft. It has been less than a year and our law enforcement partners should have the opportunity to address this recent spike in retail theft crime.
Los Angeles County recently applied for and received a grant for the State of California for $15.6 million dollars to address retail theft enforcement. LA District Attorney George Gascon also recently formed an organized retail task force that partners with LA County Sheriff’s Department, Glendale, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Torrance and Santa Monica Police Departments to integrate their response to retail theft across the region. These collaborative efforts, such as those seen in initiatives like the organized retail task force in LA County, demonstrate the importance of a united approach to tackling theft while maintaining a balance between enforcement and civil liberties.
As we move forward, it is essential for policymakers, law enforcement agencies, businesses and communities to work together in finding solutions that effectively address organized retail theft without encroaching on individual rights. Ongoing evaluation and a commitment to thoughtful consideration will be crucial in navigating this challenge and fostering a safe and prosperous environment for all. Balancing the scales of justice to protect businesses while upholding civil liberties demands a comprehensive and conscientious approach from all stakeholders involved.
I am confident we can find that balance.
About the Author
Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) represents the 61st District in Los Angeles County, which includes parts of the South Bay, Inglewood, Hawthorne and Lawndale.
California Black Media
Study: UC 4-Year Grad Rate Doubles That of CSU
Graduation rates at the University of California have increased by 10 points over the last ten years putting the college system on track to achieve its 2030 graduation goals, according to a report on college completion in the state released by the Public Policy Institute of California. Recent data indicated that the UC system has a graduation rate of 73% for four-year students and a six-year graduation rate of 86%, according to the institution’s data. The system will increase the four-year graduation rate to 76% and the six-year rate to 90% by 2030. However, students at California State University are lagging behind with a graduation rate of 36% for four-year students and a 62% for six-year graduation rate. The graduation rates for students in the UC system are more than double that of students at CSU. Consequently, it is unlikely that CSU will meet its graduation goal of graduating 40% of four-year students and 70% of six-year students by 2025.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
Graduation rates at the University of California have increased by 10 points over the last ten years putting the college system on track to achieve its 2030 graduation goals, according to a report on college completion in the state released by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Recent data indicated that the UC system has a graduation rate of 73% for four-year students and a six-year graduation rate of 86%, according to the institution’s data. The system will increase the four-year graduation rate to 76% and the six-year rate to 90% by 2030.
However, students at California State University are lagging behind with a graduation rate of 36% for four-year students and a 62% for six-year graduation rate. The graduation rates for students in the UC system are more than double that of students at CSU. Consequently, it is unlikely that CSU will meet its graduation goal of graduating 40% of four-year students and 70% of six-year students by 2025.
The report revealed that nonprofit institutions have relatively high completion rates compared to a high number of for-profit and private colleges that have lower graduation rates.
Researchers stated that longstanding equity gaps in college completion persist indicating that Black and Latino students graduate at lower rates of 52% and 64% The data is varied in comparison to White and Asian students who graduate at higher rates of 75% and 83%, respectively.
Nonetheless, the report showed that Black students in the UC system graduated at a rate of 78% in four years, nearly double the graduation number of Black students in the CSU system with a rate of 47 percent.
“Campus and regional disparities are stark,” the report stated regarding the varying graduation rates at the different college locations.
“Despite progress, equity gaps at UC remain nearly as large as they were in 2018. At CSU, gaps have widened over time; however, many campuses have made progress in closing them,” the report stated about the equity gaps in the college systems.
The state has set a goal to achieve a graduation rate of 70% by 2030.
Bay Area
State of Black California: Oakland Tour Stop Rescheduled
The 2024 State of Black California Tour stop in Oakland has been rescheduled from Sept. 28 to Dec. 13, at the Oakland Museum of California. Registration for the event is closed after reaching maximum capacity, according to CBBF’s website. Registration for the Oct. 5 tour stop in Moreno Valley is closed as well. Al Sharpton will be a guest speaker at that event.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
The 2024 State of Black California Tour stop in Oakland has been rescheduled from Sept. 28 to Dec. 13, at the Oakland Museum of California. Registration for the event is closed after reaching maximum capacity, according to CBBF’s website.
Registration for the Oct. 5 tour stop in Moreno Valley is closed as well. Al Sharpton will be a guest speaker at that event.
The series, co-hosted by the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), has made stops in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Fresno, and Sacramento.
The State of Black California series creates space for Black Californians to engage the public and policymakers on the issues that impact the Black community. It will also provide conversations about the status of reparations legislation.
The CBFF is a five-year, $100 million measure to ensure that Black power-building and movement-based organizations have the sustainable investments and effective resources needed to remove systemic and institutional racism. CBFF was the benefactor of $3.5 million in state funds last year, distributed to various Black networks in the state.
California Black Media
Sen. Laphonza Butler Helps Secure Nomination of Central California Federal Judge Michelle Williams Court
Last week, U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped to secure the nomination of Judge Michelle Williams Court as Judge for the Central District of California with a vote of 49-44. In her new role, Court became the third Black woman and fifth in the court’s history to serve as an Article III Judge in the state’s Central District. Since 2012, Court worked for the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
Last week, U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, helped to secure the nomination of Judge Michelle Williams Court as Judge for the Central District of California with a vote of 49-44.
In her new role, Court became the third Black woman and fifth in the court’s history to serve as an Article III Judge in the state’s Central District.
Since 2012, Court worked for the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County.
In 2023, she was a supervising judge in the court’s civil division. Before being a judge, she worked as an attorney, then later became the vice president and general counsel at Bet Tzedek Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm specializing in human rights and poverty justice.
Court dedicated her career as a lawyer to civil rights and social development. She led and contributed to several projects at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California. The judge earned her Juris Doctor in 1993 from the Loyola Law School at the Loyola Marymount University, and she received her bachelor’s in 1988 from Pomona College.
“The Central District of California serves roughly seventeen million people, making it the largest federal district by population in the entire United States. The judges who serve these Californians are currently facing an unprecedented number of filings, making the need to fill the court’s vacancies all that more urgent. It is commonly said that ‘justice delayed is justice denied,’ and at this moment the people of California’s Central District are indeed being denied justice as a direct result of these judicial vacancies,” said Butler in her statement on the Senate Floor urging her colleagues to approve Court’s nomination.
Butler also praised Court’s commitment to justice and track record of serving the state of California.
“Her nomination is an important step towards building trust in our legal system by ensuring that our federal courts reflect and represent the diversity of the people it serves,” he said regarding Judge Court’s career serving in the state’s justice system.
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