Re:SF's government is uniquely broken
by closeparen on Thursday April 14, 2022 @12:53PM
(#31029610)
Even if there's a prosecution, a likely outcome is a fine. It's extremely unpopular to lock up indigent defendants over unpaid fines or to actually collect against people who need the money for subsistence calories. Quality of life crimes are effectively only illegal when committed by people in a specific window of financial security (can spare the amount of the fine, but not by so much that it's immaterial).
Re:SF's government is uniquely broken
by bubblethink on Thursday April 14, 2022 @11:33AM
(#31028282)
Why don't stores hire security then ? It's expensive, but what isn't in SF ? Having a guard or two is quite common in other parts of the country.
They do, now. Many stores in SF malls that formerly had 2 entrances now close one, and post a security guard by the other.
Re:SF's government is uniquely broken
by binarynate on Thursday April 14, 2022 @12:09AM
(#31023321)
Thanks for clarifying this.
Prop 47 makes them misdemeanors, but lots of misdemeanors are prosecuted. What makes them not prosecuted in San Francisco is a combination of police refusing to arrest (in part, as a political protest against Prop 47 and to create pressure for greater criminalization) and the DA choosing not prosecute (and these two things reinforce each other, as nonprosecution of what arrests happen leads to even fewer arrests and even investigations, which leads to fewer opportunities for the DA to even consider prosecution.)