Pros And Cons Of Prop 47

Proposition 47, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, is an act that applies savings towards mental health and drug treatment programs. It is extremely controversial and viral, with large amounts of support and protests. This piece of rhetoric is relevant and has a critical impact on our local community and state of California. As the Californian General Election Official Voter Guide states, the goal of Prop 47 is to “…ensure that prison spending is focused on violent and serious offenses, to maximize alternatives for non-serious, nonviolent crime, and to invest the savings generated from this act into prevention and support programs in K–12 schools, victim services, and mental health and drug treatment” (Bowen 70). This explains

She publicly announces that she will be a symbol of Proposition 47, and supports the vote for this to pass. Supporters believe that the pros of this proposition outweigh the cons—with an increase and improvement in public safety, a reduction in government and prison spending, and a budget towards schools and health treatment programs. Dionne Wilson lost her husband Dan, who was gunned down while making a routine stop. Wilson came to the idea that “…we need to think about where this whole cycle of crime started. If we can get in front of it, maybe there won’t be a person on the other end who is killing a police officer like Dan” (Kaplan and Emmons 1). The change of low level crimes from felonies to misdemeanors will save hundreds of millions of dollars each year while giving the offender a second chance—eliminating the immediate sentence to prison. Wilson makes it clear that her goal is to get the Contra Costa Times readers to vote yes on Prop 47, for a safer investment in our

The strategies that the protestors effectively used were terms of logos, speaking rationally on the real effects. They address their evidence from testimonies and examples, provided by the San Diego Police Chief and the California General Election Official Voter Information Guide. Since their evidence is against Kaplan and Emmons, they appear to use fallacies like Slippery Slope, stating that if we let some criminals free, then we will eventually let all crime be legal. As the California Police Chief Association concludes, “When a career criminal steals a firearm, or a suspected sexual predator possesses date rape drugs, or a carjacker steals yet another vehicle, there needs to be an option besides a misdemeanor slap on the wrist” (Boyd