Red Bluff Daily News

November 08, 2014

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ByDonThompson TheAssociatedPress SACRAMENTO A ballot measure passed by voters this week is already freeing California suspects from jail as their felony charges are reduced to misdemean- ors, and people previously convicted of the charges re- ceive reduced sentences as they appear in court. Sheriffs across the state immediately began imple- menting Proposition 47, which calls for treating shop- lifting, forgery, fraud, petty theft and possession of small amounts of drugs, including cocaine, heroin and meth- amphetamines, as misde- meanors instead of felonies. Two-dozen suspects who were being held on those charges walked out of Sac- ramento County jail two days after 58 percent of voters approved the initia- tive on Tuesday. They were among the more than 400 Sacramento jail inmates expected to be freed while they await trial on reduced charges that in many cases will no longer keep people behind bars after arrests. Other sheriffs immedi- ately changed arrest policies while they reviewed which inmates qualify for release. Meanwhile, inmates in state prison on the charges can petition for release. It appears the measure in- tended to save hundreds of millions of dollars a year in reduced prison and jail costs is already having that effect. Under the initiative, savings will be diverted to rehabil- itation programs intended to reduce crime, though the programs will lag far behind the criminals' release. Hours after the bill passed, Fresno County dep- uties were instructed to stop jailingpeoplearrestedonthe lower-level crimes, said Sher- iff Margaret Mims. Suspects there and in other counties are now issued citations sim- ilar to traffic tickets and or- dered to appear in court. The state corrections de- partment began notifying nearly 4,800 inmates in California prisons that they can petition judges to have their felony convictions and sentences reduced. Convicts serving time for the felonies in local jails can also peti- tion for release. The initiative is pro- jected to keep about 4,000 inmates out of state pris- ons each year, more than enough to help the state meet a population cap or- dered by federal judges. County prosecutors and courts also may shift more attorneys and judges to handle the increase in mis- demeanors. Los Angeles City Attor- ney Mike Feuer immedi- ately sought more than $510,000 to hire 15 lawyers and clerks. He anticipates about 13,500 additional, mostly drug-related cases a year — a 17 percent increase in the current workload. PROP 47 Prisonersfreedquicklya ervotersapprovemeasure By Amy Taxin The Associated Press SANTA ANA Mexican im- migrants in the country il- legally will need one form of valid identification from their country to apply for a California driver's license while other immigrants will need at least two, state offi- cials said Friday. The Department of Mo- tor Vehicles said immi- grants from Mexico would need to show their con- sular identification card or a passport — not both— to prove their identity because each document is consid- ered secure and electroni- cally verifiable by the DMV. Citizens of other coun- tries would need more doc- uments to apply. "Our approach continues to be to require fewer doc- uments for proving identity when those documents are very secure," said Armando Botello, a DMV spokesman. The agency recently de- veloped an interface with the Mexican government to verify documents and was working with other coun- tries to do the same, he said. The move was welcomed by immigrant advocates and came as California gears up to issue driver's licenses to immigrants in the country illegally start- ing Jan. 2. The state expects 1.4 million applicants for the licenses in the first three years. The rules for identity documents vary by coun- try. For example, an im- migrant from El Salvador would need an identifica- tion card and a passport, while citizens of countries who hold passports that have not been approved by the DMV would need to un- dergo a secondary review process with a department investigator to obtain a li- cense, said Brian Soublet, legal counsel for the DMV. In recent months, immi- grants and their advocates urged the DMV to accept a broader number of docu- ments to make it easier to apply for the licenses. Ini- tially, the department was going to require Mexican citizens to present both consular ID and passports. In addition to identity documents, immigrants will also need to provide a document such as a rental agreement, mortgage bill or home utility bill to prove they live in California. 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