Prop 47 Resentencing

This Act reduces most drug possession offenses and thefts of property valued under $950.00 from felonies to misdemeanors. This does not happen automatically however - it is up to the persons convicted of these offenses to petition/apply to the Court for resentencing as a misdemeanor.

Qualifications

YOU DO NOT QUALIFY if any of the following apply to you:

• You must register as a sex offender under Penal Code section 290(c). (Note, if your conviction is for petty theft with a prior theft conviction under Penal Code § 666, you are disqualified for a reduction if you must register under any provision of the Sex Offender Registration Act, Penal Code §§ 290 to 290.024).
• You have a prior conviction for any homicide (Penal Code §§ 187 to 191.5), attempted homicide or solicitation to commit murder.
• You have a prior conviction for a sexually violent offense listed in Welfare and Institution Code section 6600(b). This includes rape, spousal rape, rape in concert, aggravated sexual assault of a child, sodomy, lewd acts on a child under 14, oral copulation, continuous sexual abuse of a child under age 14 and sexual penetration, kidnapping with the intent to commit one of those offenses, and or assault with the intent to commit one of those offenses, when committed by force, violence, duress, menace, fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person, or threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim or any other person.
• You have a prior conviction for any serious or violent felony punishable by death or life in prison.
• You have a prior conviction for possession of a weapon of mass destruction.
• You have a prior conviction for assault on a peace officer or a firefighter with a machine gun.

YOU DO QUALIFY if you have one of the following convictions.

• Commercial Burglary (Penal Code § 459) that meets the definition of the new crime of shoplifting (see below for that definition).
• Forgery relating to financial instruments listed in Penal Code section 473(b)(Any check, bond, bank bill, note, cashier’s check, traveler’s check or money order), if amount of the item does not exceed $950, and you were not also convicted of identity theft per PC § 530.5. This will include convictions under Penal Code section 470(a), 470(d), 475 and 476.
• Passing bad checks (Penal Code § 476(a)) if the aggregate amount of the checks does not exceed $950, and you have no more than two prior convictions for violations of Penal Code §§ 470, 475, 476 or 476a.
• Grand theft (Penal Code §§ 487(a)-(d), 487a, 487b, 487c, 487d, 487f, 487g, 487h, 487i and 487j) if the value of the stolen property does not exceed $950.
• Receiving stolen property (Penal Code § 496(a)) if the value of the stolen property does not exceed $950.
• Unlawful possession of a controlled substance (Health and Safety code §§ 11350(a), 11357(a) and 11377(a).

Proposition 47 also created the new crime of shoplifting pursuant to Penal Code section 459.5. Shoplifting is defined as entering a commercial establishment while the establishment is open during regular business hours with the intent to commit larceny where the value of the property taken does not exceed $950. Any act of shoplifting must be charged as shoplifting and may not be charged as burglary or theft.