CalProps Analysis: Prop 9

Proposition 9, also known as Marsy's Law and/or Nicholas's Law, would alter laws governing victim's rights in California. If it passes, it will amend the California Constitution to provide for additional rights to the families of crime victims while removing certain prisoners’ rights.

Key Provisions:

The California Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) is charged with providing neutral analyses of the provisions of proposed California propositions. According to the LAO, the provisions of Proposition 9 include:
Provisions requiring the payment of restitution to victims.
Any funds collected by a court, or law enforcement agencies, from a person ordered to pay restitution would go to pay that restitution first, in effect prioritizing those payments over other fines and obligations an offender may legally owe.
Provisions regarding the notification and participation of victims in criminal justice proceedings.
Provisions that expand victims' legal rights.
Provisions that affect how parole is granted and revoked; this includes lengthening the parole hearing wait for lifers from five to 15 years.
Limits the use of state-paid defense lawyers in revocation proceedings to indigent offenders.

In its fiscal analysis of the measure, the California Legislative Analyst's Office cited unknown potential increases in state prison and county jail operating costs, potentially in the hundreds of millions of dollars each year. A potential net savings in the low tens of millions of dollars for the administration of parole reviews is also possible.

The initiative is sponsored by Broadcom co-founder Henry Nicholas and his family. Nicholas, who donated $4,845,000 to the campaign to put Marsy's Law on the ballot, stepped away from active support of the campaign when a criminal indictment on drug and securities offenses was unsealed in June of this year.

Other backers of Proposition 9 are the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and Crime Victims United of California.

Notable opponents include the California Democratic Party, the California Professional Firefighters, the California Teachers Association, California Church IMPACT, the Los Angeles Times, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the American Friends Service Committee Pacific Mountain Region.

Arguments in favor of Prop. 9

Proposition 9 would save money because under the current system, taxpayers are spending money to fund hearings for criminals who have little chance of release. For example, supporters of Prop 9 argue, "'Helter Skelter' inmates Bruce Davis and Leslie Van Houten, followers of Charles Manson, convicted of multiple brutal murders, have had 38 parole hearings in 30 years. That’s 38 times the families involved have been forced to relive the painful crime and pay their own expenses to attend the hearing, plus 38 hearings that taxpayers have had to subsidize."
The rights of victims are important.
Parole judges could increase the number of years between parole hearings typically to 15 years, saving money.
Arguments against Prop. 9

Notable arguments that have been made against Proposition 9 include:

Voters already approved many components of Prop. 9 when they passed California Proposition 8 (1982), including the requirements that victims be notified of critical points in an offender’s legal process as well as the rights for victims to be heard throughout the legal process.
Prop. 9 amounts to political grandstanding without really changing any significant problems in the criminal justice system.
The provision in Prop. 9 to stop early release of criminals could end up costing the taxpayer in the "hundreds of millions"
The annual parole rate for those convicted of second degree murder or manslaughter has been less than 1% of those eligible for parole for the last twenty years. Opponents of Prop. 9 say this means that the taxpayers would spend a lot of money with minimal resulting changes, since at most Prop. 9 would affect early parole of 1% of the most violent criminal population.
Money spent enforcing the provisions of Prop. 9 won't be available for other important government programs.

So what do you think? Take a deeper look at the initative's finances here, or join one of the CalProps groups advocating for or against Prop 9: