As the Bay Area Reporter previously reported, Proposition 20 would have undone parts of AB 109 (2011), Props 47 (2014), and 57 (2016) by reinstituting stricter sentencing laws, making it more difficult to qualify for early release, and granting parole boards more discretion.
Drug possession and shoplifting could have been charged as felonies again, as before 2014. Those convicted of these crimes would have to submit a DNA sample for databases.But Prop 20 went down in a resounding 61.7%-38.2% defeat, according to preliminary returns.San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was elected last year as one of a new breed of progressive prosecutors, told the B.A.R.