Two of the country’s largest retailers, Walmart and rival Target, are backing a ballot measure that would roll back California’s Proposition 47, the state’s criminal justice reform statute that has been blamed for a spike in retail theft and has forced big-box chains such as theirs to close locations.
The two mega stores have spent more than $1.5 million in support of a ballot measure that would undo the controversial 2014 voter-approved law that reduced penalties for lower-level crimes such as shoplifting. Frustrated residents and business owners have pointed to several smash-and-grab robberies at retail stores and open-air drug use on city streets in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland as evidence of the law’s shortcomings and say something needs to change.
In September, Target was forced to close three
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