Two of Southern California’s top prosecutors want looting to be elevated from a misdemeanor to a felony with longer sentences and three-strikes designation.
L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer announced the proposal today, asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to include the proposal in his special session.
Newsom has already expanded the session to include consideration of a proposal for $2.5 billion in state funding for the L.A.-area fires’ emergency response recovery. Last year, Newsom backed successful legislation that cracks down on property crime, including shoplifting, smash-and-grab robbery and auto burglary.
His press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The prosecutors’ joint statement said making looting a more serious crime would send “a strong message to opportunistic thieves that these crimes will not be tolerated, and that justice will be swift and it will be decisive.”
Looting is a misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail, according to California law. The prosecutors’ statement says it’s a “wobbler” at sentencing, which means it can be sentenced as a felony in certain circumstances.
They want two- to four-year sentences.
Under the duo’s proposal, a looting conviction would be eligible as a strike under California’s three-strikes law, which increases punishment for anyone convicted of third eligible crime.
Part of the proposal includes making sifting through the rubble of a stranger’s burned home a crime, their statement says. It would also make looting ineligible for diversion, which allows some defendants to avoid having convictions on their records with good behavior outside prison.
Hochman said in his statement that “opportunistic burglars and looters who target fire victims in their time of crisis are not only breaking the law — they are further deepening the suffering of those already facing unimaginable loss. These criminals deserve the harshest penalties.”
Kimberly Edds, spokesperson for Spitzer, the Orange County DA, said the DAs do not yet have a state legislator to introduce a bill in Sacramento but felt the situation was urgent enough to unveil the idea today.
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Publish date : 2025-01-14 16:45:00
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Publish date : 2025-01-15 06:17:44
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