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Proposition Six Ironic

On the 2008 ballot, Proposition 6 is the "Safe Neighborhoods Act." Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? I mean . . . safe neighborhoods: You're either for 'em or against 'em, right?

Here are a few key provisions of the initiative. Prop. 6, if passed, would: increase penalties for firearm and drug crimes; require recipients of public housing subsidies submit to criminal background checks and lose housing if they or someone in their family has been convicted of a recent crime; eliminate bail for illegal aliens; change rules of evidence to allow use of hearsay statements when witnesses are unavailable; divert several billion from the CA general fund; and require a majority vote to add, but a 3/4 vote to amend. (Source.)

Proponents (including Golden State Bail Agents Association and the CA Association of Healthcare Underwriters) argue Prop. 6 cracks down and gets tough on crime.

Opponents (including the CA Professional Firefighters; the CA Labor Federation; the current LA Police Chief; the former LA Police Chief; the LA Times; the CA Teachers Association; the CA National Organization for Women; the LA City Council; the League of Women Voters; and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights) point out that the funding scheme diverts billions from California schools, hospitals and childcare centers, that criminal background checks for public housing recipients target the poor, and that changes in rules of evidence and prosecution guidelines increase (dramatically) the damage caused to persons falsely prosecuted.

In summary, if you like nurses, firefighters, women's rights, labor, human rights, peace officers, and teachers, vote "no." If you favor bail agents and insurance underwriters, vote "yes."

It gets even better.

The primary supporter of Prop. 6 -- by a long shot -- is billionaire Henry Nicholas. As of July 2008 Nicholas had contributed $1,000,000 to get the measure passed. This is nothing new; Nicholas (who co-founded Broadcom) has supported various 'tough on crime' projects in the past and, according to coworkers on former initiatives, is passionate about crime:

Nicholas' behavior during [the last two weeks of the 2004 Prop. 66 campaign] was strange. He seemed to work all night, rarely sleeping. With the assistance of then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Nicholas pulled an all-nighter in the Long Beach home studio of a rock musician to make "No on 66" radio ads. He then started calling radio stations over the last weekend, begging managers to broadcast the ads despite full slates. It all seemed manic, but Nicholas told me at the time he simply had a passion for crime . . .

What motivated that mania? Click here to read Nicholas' 18 page grand jury indictment, alleging he maintained an LA condo for the purpose of cocaine and ecstasy distribution (it has since come to light that the condo was also the scene of violence, and prostitution). Click here to read Nicholas' 65 page securities fraud indictment alleging backdating of Broadcom stock options without properly reporting the transactions to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Passionate about crime, indeed.

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on October 14, 2008 (boomark / email).