What Prop 47 reclassified
- Simple possession under Health and Safety Code 11350 and 11377 — misdemeanor for most defendants.
- Petty theft under the new PC 490.2 — theft of $950 or less.
- Shoplifting under the new PC 459.5 — entering an open commercial business intending to steal $950 or less.
- Forgery, bad checks, and receiving stolen property, each where the value is $950 or less.
It also created a petition process for resentencing and for reclassifying prior felony convictions to misdemeanors.
Who it never applied to
Prop 47's misdemeanor treatment excludes defendants with a prior conviction for a "super strike" — the serious and violent offenses listed in the three strikes law — and defendants required to register as sex offenders. Those defendants remained felony-eligible on the same conduct.
What Proposition 36 changed in 2024
- Created a treatment-mandated felony for possession offenses where the defendant has qualifying prior drug convictions, pairing felony exposure with a court-supervised treatment track.
- Allowed a felony theft charge for defendants with two or more qualifying prior theft convictions, even where the value is under $950.
- Permitted aggregation of value across multiple thefts in defined circumstances, and added sentencing enhancements for organized retail theft.
Why other articles point here
Prop 47 is the reason theft thresholds and HS 11350 vs HS 11377 read the way they do, and the reason shoplifting has its own statute. It is the foundation under most of California's misdemeanor theft and possession landscape.