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A recent California Supreme Court decision, the justices unanimously ruled that any person convicted of a felony for stealing a car may have that conviction reduced to a misdemeanor if the vehicle was worth no more than $950.

The decision, which overturned lower court rulings, came as an interpretation of California’s voter-approved — but spectacularly disastrous — Proposition 47, which reduced any number of drug and theft related felonies to misdemeanors.

Now, if you steal somebody’s car, instead of going to jail, you may just be issued a citation. Driving a vehicle you legally own over the speed limit could literally result in a larger fine than stealing somebody else’s ride.

Maybe it’s a clever, back-door way of fighting childhood obesity. “Johnny, why do you keep sitting in front of that TV playing Grand Theft Auto indoors when you could be out in the warm sunshine stealing actual cars?!”
Or it could just another example of the state of California doing everything they can to empty the prisons and flood the streets with convicted criminals in the name of “sentencing reform.”
My money is on the latter.


http://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/06/why-stealing-a-car-might-now-be-a-misdemeanor-in-california/

Grand theft(felony) in CA is $950 or more.

Give us Barabbas.

and driving a stolen car worth 950 or less is a misdemeanor

Makes sense.
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It's Cali.

It wouldn't do to run from the cops in a $950 car...

Wouldn't work out well at all.

an individual can work for their stuff, inherit it, or steal it in any number of ways.

kali, and many of the big cities are wanting to de-criminalize everything they can, they're competing with each other to attract "citizens."

Why run, its only a ticket anyway. No car payments, no insurance. EZ peasy

They don't get to keep the POS though. Even though it's only a misdemeanor, it's still stolen property.

Wrong,

They are trying to cut justice costs, If they can decriminalize something it will no longer cost to prosecute.

All the citizens tax money is going to stupid schit so they no longer have the money to do with it what the citizens expect.

Any vehicle under 950 is a POS?

I wouldn't put much stock in it.

My tires cost twice that.

i don't really disagree, from a number of different angles.

the justice dept, so-called, do a booming business of fining the heck out of people for minor & major infractions. and helping to keep & maintain full-employment in the county jails, county workcamps, and state prisons. many inmates need to be there for a long time, no doubt.

but, beyond that, gov't is desperate for revenue to re-distribute as you suggest. they want to spend money on things that bring them votes, and attracts new "citizens." big cities are beginning to compete aggressively for additional citizens. it's happening all over the world, not just in the us. we're not alone in that phenomenon. the rest of us can work to support the mega-city citizens. we can grow food, work, and distribute part of our earnings for their well-being.

how to fix it? that's my question.

That doesn’t make sense, a theft is a theft!!

Who needs to keep it? Plenty more where that came from.

People quit electing stupid politicians.

Politicians quit being stupid and agenda driven.

There's two big ones.

Very good answer!

not sentencing reform.... their jails are full of criminals. and soon everything will be not a crime any more.

Otta remain a felony, once a car is stolen it is being driven, putting the populace at risk.
More to stealing a car than just talking the car.

As well as burglary and theft of a firearms, if the loss is under $950. Personal use of heroin and meth are also now misdemeanors. They are "non violent" crimes, ya know.