“The coming landslide win for Proposition 36 will be a triumph for truth over spin. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board has long supported criminal justice reform. But in real time, we saw the obvious flaws of Proposition 47 — the November 2014 measure that Proposition 36 is meant to fix.

…instead of arresting criminals and removing them from the streets, their officers have been dealing with the same offenders again and again. Caught in possession of drugs? That usually means a misdemeanor citation under Prop 47, or essentially a ticket. Caught stealing something worth less than $950? That means a ticket, too. Caught using some of that $950 to buy more drugs? Another citation.

Nothing has changed since then — unless you count the emergence of a cottage industry determined to depict Proposition 47 as good no matter what…

…But in recent months, this spin has hit comic lows. In 2015, the Legislature passed a law that sharply narrowed the definition of recidivism — the term for a past convict committing a new offense. Subsequently, without any other changes, the number of recidivists plunged. So who or what gets the credit for this? Incredibly, some activists say it is actually a result of Proposition 47.

In opposing Proposition 36 — which limits the incentives to commit crime that are the worst elements of  Proposition 47 — who repeated this lazy, manipulative fiction? The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board.

But in California, alas, reformers would rather pretend their agenda is working and chirp from the moralistic high ground than acknowledge they blew it with Proposition 47. Yes, yes, yes, of course, vote for Proposition 36. Then break out the detergent.”