Arizona Criminal Justice Procedures for Offenses Defined as Non-Dangerous Initiative (2020)
| Arizona Criminal Justice Procedures for Offenses Defined as Non-Dangerous Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Civil and criminal trials | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Arizona Criminal Justice Procedures for Offenses Defined as Non-Dangerous Initiative was not on the ballot in Arizona as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The ballot measure would have defined certain crimes as non-dangerous offenses. The ballot measure would have expanded earned release credits for persons imprisoned for non-dangerous offenses; allowed judges to impose sentences for non-dangerous offenses that are less than prescribed sentencing ranges and terms found in state code; and excluded those convicted of non-dangerous offenses from the process of charging a person as a repeat offender for multiple offenses at a single trial. The ballot measure would have also established the Victim and First Responder Support Services Fund.[1]
On August 14, 2020, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs reported that random samples projected that 216,957 signatures were valid—20,688 less than the required minimum of 237,645. Hobbs declared that proponents had "not submitted a sufficient number of signatures for placement on the November 3, 2020 ballot."[2]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the ballot initiative is below:[1]
Sponsors
Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety led the campaign in support of the ballot initiative.[3]
Supporters
- Alliance for Safety and Justice[4]
- American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona[4]
- American Conservative Union[4]
- American Friends Service Committee - Arizona[4]
- FWD.us[4]
Arguments
- Roopali Desai, a lawyer that helped write the ballot initiative, said, "The idea here is that we're wanting to have people in prison for long enough where it has a deterrent effect, but not so long that it breaks people to the point where they can't reenter into society. I think voters really understand that, and they want people to have second chances."[4]
Campaign finance
The Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety PAC was registered in support of the ballot initiative. The PAC received $4.11 million in contributions, with 99.2 percent of the funds from the Alliance for Safety and Justice (a project of Tides Advocacy).[5]
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $3,962,172.00 | $146,010.36 | $4,108,182.36 | $3,745,183.62 | $3,891,193.98 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $3,962,172.00 | $146,010.36 | $4,108,182.36 | $3,745,183.62 | $3,891,193.98 |
Support
The contribution and expenditure totals for the committee in support of the ballot initiative were as follows:[5]
| Committees in support of Arizona Criminal Justice Procedures for Offenses Defined as Non-Dangerous Initiative (2020) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Committee | Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures |
| Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety | $3,962,172.00 | $146,010.36 | $4,108,182.36 | $3,745,183.62 | $3,891,193.98 |
| Total | $3,962,172.00 | $146,010.36 | $4,108,182.36 | $3,745,183.62 | $3,891,193.98 |
Donors
The following were the top donors who contributed to the committee:[5]
| Donor | Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance for Safety and Justice | $3,962,172.00 | $111,510.47 | $4,073,682.47 |
| Save Our Schools Arizona | $0.00 | $23,100.00 | $23,100.00 |
| American Friends Service Committee - Arizona | $0.00 | $11,399.89 | $11,399.89 |
Background
State incarceration rates
The U.S. Department of Justice released estimates of the number of people incarcerated in each state in 2016. The incarceration rate accounts for people in state prisons, federal prisons, or local jails. The average state incarceration rate in 2016 was 750 persons per 100,000 U.S. residents ages 18 or older. The incarceration rate in Ohio in 2016 was 790. The states with the lowest incarceration rates included Vermont (340), Massachusetts (360), and Rhode Island (370). The states with the highest incarceration rates included Oklahoma (1,310), Louisiana (1,270), and Mississippi (1,260).[6]
Path to the ballot
Process in Arizona
In Arizona, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Petitions can be circulated for up to 24 months. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.
The requirements to get initiated state statutes certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 237,645 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 2, 2020.
If the secretary of state certifies that enough valid signatures were submitted, the initiative is put on the next general election ballot. The secretary of state verifies the signatures through a random sampling of 5 percent of submitted signatures working in collaboration with county recorders. If the random sampling indicates that valid signatures equal to between 95 percent and 105 percent of the required number were submitted, a full check of all signatures is required. If the random sampling shows fewer signatures, the petition fails. If the random sampling shows more, the initiative is certified for the ballot.
Stages of this initiative
The committee Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety filed the ballot initiative on February 18, 2020.[1] On July 2, 2020, the campaign filed 347,920 signatures.[7][8]
On August 14, 2020, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs reported that random samples projected that 216,957 signatures were valid—20,688 less than the required minimum of 237,645. Hobbs declared that proponents had "not submitted a sufficient number of signatures for placement on the November 3, 2020 ballot."[9]
Petitioning of Arizona Supreme Court
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| Coronavirus pandemic |
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On April 2, 2020, four ballot initiative campaigns filed a petition asking the Arizona Supreme Court to allow the campaigns to gather signatures through E-Qual, which is the state's online signature collection platform, during the coronavirus pandemic. E-Qual is available for federal, statewide, and legislative candidates but not ballot initiatives.[10]
The legal petition stated, "The Novel Coronavirus 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic changed, quite literally, everything. ... Although this new reality is essential for public health, it is catastrophic to the Initiative Proponents’ exercise of their fundamental constitutional right. ... In short, signature gathering will halt, and the Initiative Proponents’ hard work and investment is in jeopardy. ... This Petition presents an important legal question of first impression: whether the fundamental constitutional rights of the Initiative Proponents are violated by their exclusion from an online petition signature gathering system maintained by the Secretary in the middle of a public health emergency that severely limits (or outright bars) their ability to otherwise collect initiative petition signatures."[10]
The four ballot initiative campaigns that filed the petition are:[10]
- Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety, which is behind the Criminal Justice Procedures for Offenses Defined as Non-Dangerous Initiative;
- Smart and Safe Arizona, which is behind the Marijuana Legalization Initiative;
- Invest in Education, which is behind the Tax on Incomes Exceeding $250,000 for Teacher Salaries and Schools Initiative; and
- Save Our Schools Arizona, which is behind the Limits on Private Education Vouchers Initiative.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), who was named as the defendant, said she would not oppose the challenge from the campaigns. She stated, "I think that in light of the circumstances that we’re in right now, it’s a reasonable request. We are certainly not opposing it and would hope for a quick resolution... I plan to let the court know that my office can implement the necessary changes, should that be the court’s order... Every voter in the state is eligible to sign an initiative petition. That makes it no different than candidates for statewide office using the system to get the necessary signatures to put their own names on the ballot."[11] Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) disagreed with the campaigns, stating, "A health crisis is not an excuse to ignore the constitution."[12]
On May 13, 2020, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against the campaigns in a 6-1 decision.[13]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Arizona Secretary of State, "Initiative 32-2020," February 18, 2020
- ↑ KJZZ, "Second Chances Act Ballot Initiative Fails To Clear Arizona Secretary Of State's Signature Review," August 14, 2020
- ↑ Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety, "Homepage," accessed July 2, 2020
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 The Arizona Republic, "Arizona has 4th-highest prison population in U.S. Ballot measure could change that," February 25, 2020
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Arizona Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance," accessed February 19, 2020
- ↑ U.S. Department of Justice, "Correctional Populations in the United States, 2016," April 2018
- ↑ Twitter, "Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety," July 2, 2020
- ↑ Twitter, "Secretary Katie Hobbs," July 23, 2020
- ↑ KJZZ, "Second Chances Act Ballot Initiative Fails To Clear Arizona Secretary Of State's Signature Review," August 14, 2020
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Arizona Supreme Court, "Arizonans for Second Chances, Rehabilitation, and Public Safety et al. v. Hobbs," April 2, 2020
- ↑ Arizona Capitol Times, "Hobbs won’t contest legal challenge to put initiative signature gathering online," April 6, 2020
- ↑ AZCentral, "Arizona Supreme Court rejects bid by groups to gather initiative petition signatures online," May 13, 2020
- ↑ Arizona Supreme Court, "Order," May 13, 2020
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