Governor Gavin Newsom signs bill toughening California’s retail theft punishment

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday to increase felony punishments for people convicted in large-scale thefts and smash-and-grab operations.

Assembly Bill 1960 imposes automatic sentence enhancements for people convicted of stealing property worth $50,000 or more. They will get an extra year in prison.

Thefts or destruction of property worth $200,000 or more will result in an extra two years. Up to $1 million will get three years and $3 million will result in an automatic four-year enhancement. The bill also requires an extra year for each additional $3 million loss.

The enhancements sunset in 2030 unless renewed by lawmakers.

California’s Democratic leaders say it’s meant to target organized criminals who raid retail and designer stores, stealing merchandise worth upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. Videos of such thefts – from drugstores to luxury retailers in San Francisco – went viral during the pandemic.

“We can be tough on crime while also being smart on crime,” Newsom said in a statement. “We don’t need to go back to broken policies of the last century. Mass incarceration has been proven ineffective and is not the answer – we need true accountability and strategies that enhance our nation-leading efforts to address crime.”

The legislation was originally authored by Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, but she removed her name after other Democrats amended it earlier this summer. Then Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, took it over.

“Violent ‘sledgehammer crimes’ and flash-mob attacks by organized gangs must stop now,” Rivas said in a statement. “I authored this new law to hold appropriately responsible those who damage stores and property, because our business owners and workers should not have to live in fear that these crimes will come to their doorstep.”

The bill is the final piece in legislative Democrats’ package to crack down on retail theft. It also marked a rare occasion when lawmakers approved automatic increases in criminal punishments.

Democrats in charge of the legislature’s public safety committees in recent years have staunchly opposed any effort to increase criminal penalties, including for distributing the deadly opioid fentanyl. They have said they do not want to return to California’s era of mass incarceration, which disproportionately impacted people of color.

The retail theft package was crafted in part to fend off Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime ballot measure that, if it passes, will impose automatic sentence enhancements for repeat retail thefts and fentanyl possession.

The measure has fractured California Democrats, including Newsom, Rivas and Senate pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, who oppose it.

Other moderate Democrats and several big-city mayors support Prop. 36, arguing it gives prosecutors new tools to mandate drug treatment and bring accountability for repeat offenders.

Newsom often repeats that California already has some of the toughest theft laws in the nation. Stealing property worth $950 or more will result in a felony theft charge, compared to other states including Texas and Wisconsin, where felony theft begins at $2,500.