California Judge Rules Walmart Anti-Shoplifting Program "Extortion"

[flyingron]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: California
https://www.wsj.com/articles/wal-mar...&ad_id=6636272

[cdwjava]

Interesting. Of course, that just means that Wal-Mart will likely drop the requirement for the class and just demand the civil restitution.

[free9man]

Interesting. Of course, that just means that Wal-Mart will likely drop the requirement for the class and just demand the civil restitution.

and likely start calling the police on more people.

[asa_jim]

Where I live, Walmart's policy is to request criminal prosecution 100% of the time. Not sure why their policies vary around the country. My guess is that these policies are set at a regional level. The real clinker is that in Florida after two convictions for theft, the third is charged as a felony with the resulting impact on civil rights. Civil penalties are minor compared with that.

[cdwjava]

and likely start calling the police on more people.

Not likely in CA,anyway. The delay for an officer to respond can be in the hours which is a burden for the store. In many larger areas, the police refuse to respond to petty theft shoplifting calls. Many agencies and counties now have either online reporting,or, have trained LP staff to actually prepare and issue a citation!

They'll likely just issue the civil demand without mandating some sort of class that the thief also has to attend.

Where I live, Walmart's policy is to request criminal prosecution 100% of the time. Not sure why their policies vary around the country.

Varying state laws and the availability of officers comes to mind.

My guess is that these policies are set at a regional level. The real clinker is that in Florida after two convictions for theft, the third is charged as a felony with the resulting impact on civil rights. Civil penalties are minor compared with that.

We used to have a similar law in CA, but made it a felony after the first conviction to do it again! But, we've decided to de-criminalize crime here - particularly property crime.

[asa_jim]

We used to have a similar law in CA, but made it a felony after the first conviction to do it again! But, we've decided to de-criminalize crime here - particularly property crime.

Crime rates must be way down. That's one way to get the chiefs' stats up!

Seriously though, there is a reason society elected to have the government provide justice for crimes rather than have people seek their own private justice. If CA won't protect property rights, and courts won't let retailers resolve the issues through civil means, I can see rampant theft and ultimately retailers pulling out of the state.

[cdwjava]

Crime rates must be way down. That's one way to get the chiefs' stats up!

Nah, they're on the rise. They'd be higher, but the majority of the public seems to have given up reporting thefts to the police.

Seriously though, there is a reason society elected to have the government provide justice for crimes rather than have people seek their own private justice. If CA won't protect property rights, and courts won't let retailers resolve the issues through civil means, I can see rampant theft and ultimately retailers pulling out of the state.

Already happening. Combine out of control taxes and fees, and rampant bureaucracy, and you have regular folk fleeing, too. 35 months, and I'll be leaving, too. Unless the state comes after my pension ... which, they are talking about.

[RandallCS]

...the majority of the public seems to have given up reporting thefts to the police.

I live in Santa Monica. Want to see some irritated cops? Make them come to your place to report some property theft/damage.

People submit videos of thieves stealing from their houses to the cops, in may cases where you can see the perpetrators face, but its not realistic to expect they have the resources to investigate. So, reporting takes forever and doesn't produce noticeable results. Its fatiguing and makes it seem like a waste of everyone's time.

[comment/ator]

And so Walmart is going to pull out of California? Okay. Interesting thought!

[cdwjava]

Why would they pull out of CA? They will likely just change their shoplift response to the civil demand without the class. Though, I had not heard of the class being a requirement before, so I wonder if that was a practice in some particular area of the state and not statewide.

I live in Santa Monica. Want to see some irritated cops? Make them come to your place to report some property theft/damage.

People submit videos of thieves stealing from their houses to the cops, in may cases where you can see the perpetrators face, but its not realistic to expect they have the resources to investigate. So, reporting takes forever and doesn't produce noticeable results. Its fatiguing and makes it seem like a waste of everyone's time.

Many agencies won't even respond for property crime reports anymore. Or, they will make you report it online. An actual investigation is not likely absent good video or other evidence.