Former President Donald Trump claimed in a livestream with influencer Adin Ross that Vice President Kamala Harris implemented a policy as San Francisco District Attorney that would prevent shoplifters from being prosecuted for under $1,000 of stolen goods. 

Verdict: Misleading

Trump misinterprets California’s Proposition 47, which reduces non-violent crimes not exceeding $950 from felonies to misdemeanors. Experts told Check Your Fact that there is no record Harris was an advocate for prop. 47, nor did the proposition bar prosecution for crimes under the threshold.

Fact Check: 

Trump is expecting to file a $100 million lawsuit against the Justice Department, specifically regarding the raid of his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida in August 2022, according to Fox News. Lawyers for the former president claim the raid was carried out with “clear intent to engage in political persecution,” the outlet reported.

In a video with Ross, Trump claims Harris has made it so that looters can steal up to $1,000 without penalty. “They have like $1,000 or $1,500 which (Harris) started where she won’t even prosecute if it’s less than 1500 bucks,” he says, also joking that those who shoplift go into the store “with calculators” to make sure they are under the threshold of prosecution.

Trump’s claim misconstrues California’s Proposition 47. The proposition, which was passed by a ballot measure in 2014, turns non-violent crimes in which the value does not exceed $950 from felonies into misdemeanors, which includes commercial burglary and grand theft crimes, according to the website for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office.

William Dunlap, law professor at Quinnipiac University, told Check Your Fact via email that “The misunderstanding appears to go back to Proposition 47, approved at the polls in 2014, which reduced theft of property worth less than $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor. This includes shoplifting,”

Dunlap further explained that “reduction to misdemeanor is not available to those with a prior conviction for serious or violent crime. The law does not insulate anyone from arrest or prosecution for shoplifting. It merely reduces the seriousness of the offense.”

The text of the law, which can be found in a 2016 case online, does not suggest that prosecution for shoplifting is prohibited. However, if a person has a previous conviction for violent crimes including murder, rape or is a sex offender, a felony sentence may be sought. Check Your Fact previously debunked the claim that Proposition 47 excuses theft of up to $950.

David Faigman, chancellor and dean at UC Law San Francisco, also believes Trump misunderstood Proposition 47.

“I suspect that he is referring to Proposition 47, which reduced to a misdemeanor property theft below $950,” Faiman told Check Your Fact via email. “It is still illegal, punishable by prison up to, I believe, 6 months. I don’t know if VP Harris had any involvement with the passage of the Proposition, or what her views on it were at the time.”

Robert Weisberg, faculty co-director at Stanford Criminal Justice Center, argues that this role had no authority over local prosecutions, however. “That initiative was enacted in 2014, almost 4 years after she stopped being the district attorney. She was the Attorney General and in that role had no authority whatsoever over local prosecutions,” Weisberg said in an email to Check Your Fact. “And by the way, as AG she did not advocate for prop 47.”

Weisberg also mentioned that executive branch officials are required “to implement the law that’s duly enacted.” (RELATED: Donald Trump Claims Kamala Harris Never Passed Her Bar Exam)

It is true that Proposition 47 was enacted during Harris’ tenure as California attorney general in 2014, according to The Federalist. Harris reportedly remained neutral during discussions about Prop. 47, however, where she said that it would be “inappropriate” to take a side as attorney general, according to Politico. Check Your Fact found no recorded quotes suggesting Harris supported the initiative at the time.

There were concerns, however, about the effectiveness of the proposition in 2014. Analysts were reportedly not given an accurate total on how the new guidelines would impact gun thefts and auto thefts, which were never provided by Harris’ office upon request, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Check Your Fact reached out to a Harris spokesperson and multiple law experts for comment.