Letters to the Editor: Proposition 36 swings the criminal justice pendulum back to public safety

To the editor: A letter writer complained that Proposition 36 would “drag California back to failed ‘tough on crime’ policies.” (“The Prop. 36 campaign just showed its true Republican colors,” letters, Oct. 18)

He is apparently unaware that laws like “three strikes” and the application of gang and gun sentencing enhancements took thousands of chronic criminals off the streets for long periods of time, resulting (for one example) in the numbers of homicides in the city of Los Angeles falling from more than 1,000 in 1992 to a little more than 300 in 2023.

That is a “tough on crime” success, not a failure. It was the “soft on crime” pushback that Proposition 36 seeks to address and swing the pendulum back to greater public safety.

Criminals belong in jail. Period. Full stop.

Greg Meyer, Los Angeles