Pubdate: Fri, 06 Nov 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Robert Burns

TREATMENT MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN JAIL TIME

Regarding "A 'virtual get-out-of-jail-free card' " (Oct. 25): 
Proposition 47 did not create the hordes of homeless people rotting 
away in downtown San Diego. Neither will it cause the addict sky to 
fall. Local incarceration has long done little, except for women, to 
address substance addiction.

What's needed is treatment where it will work and necessary 
incarceration to the extent treatment won't work or needs time to 
work. The revolving door of misdemeanor offenses without any 
incarceration is a red herring.

Prop. 47 allows misdemeanors to continue to be punished by up to one 
year in jail and with formal probation and substance-abuse treatment. 
The problem here is like that of homelessness in general, i.e., one 
of writing off people and focusing money instead on pet projects like 
stadiums and convention centers.

Lastly, brandishing a weapon intent upon instilling fear in someone 
is the serious felony of assault with a deadly weapon, totally 
unaffected by Prop. 47. Please hire a lawyer to appropriately consult 
with your reporters if you want any professional respect when you 
write about legal affairs.

Robert Burns

Ocean Beach
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom