Newsom signs ‘smash and grab’ bill into law

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed new legislation that would increase penalties for individuals who take, damage or destroy property while committing any felony.

The new law is the latest in a 13-piece package of legislation focusing on organized property crimes. Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria (D-Merced) originally introduced it, but Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) later took over as author after Soria received backlash from opponents, according to the Los Angeles Times .

“California already has some of the strictest retail and property crime laws in the nation — and we have made them even stronger with our recent legislation. We can be tough on crime while also being smart on crime — 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,” Newsom said in a statement.

The law has received support from the California District Attorneys Assn, law enforcement groups and cities. However, opponents aren’t too keen on the language of the law, which calls for the creation of sentencing enhancements until Jan. 1, 2030.

“Sentencing enhancements do not prevent crime, and will not address violence in any demonstrable way. Enhancements are, however, one of the drivers of mass incarceration, a systematic means of economically and politically disenfranchising Black, Latinx and Indigenous families and communities. Mass incarceration is a human rights and economic disaster for California families, and was built one bad bill at a time,” according to ACLU California Action , an organization that advocates for civil liberties and civil rights.

Organized retail crime continues to be a problem in California and retailers have called on local and federal governments to enact more robust laws to hold individuals accountable.

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