CA's Criminal Justice Propositions: Mixed Results
In addition to the disappointing outcome of California's Proposition 8, banning gay marriage, the state's voters made mistakes in rejecting Proposition 5, which would have shifted the state's response to drug crimes from incarceration to treatment, and approving Proposition 9, which purports to give new "rights" to crime victims.
It is particularly troubling that MADD aggressively lobbied voters to reject proposition 5 even though it had nothing to do with drunk driving, and even though an organization that wants to prevent impaired driving should be supportive of increased funding for treatment programs. This is the latest example of how MADD, having accomplished its objective of raising awareness of drunk driving and toughening drunk driving penalties around the country, has outlived its usefulness and now seeks to perpetuate itself by intruding into criminal justice issues that are none of its concern.
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