Once the most convenient and only supermarket in downtown Vista, Vons once served hundreds of shoppers a day. Now, an empty eyesore exists where Vons once did. A boarded-up plywood monument to the destructive policies that Cipriano Vargas and his friends proudly of implemented.
The ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County was a published partner on a Prop 47 report that celebrated its passage and argued for even more progressive criminal justice reforms. To achieve these progressive reforms, Prop 47 would raise the dollar amount considered felony theft from $450 to $950. In 2014,the ACLU put $3.5 million towards Prop 47. Proposition 47 passed, and the results were almost immediate. Criminals were suddenly released from prison and more emboldened than ever, younger generations started seeing crime as less risky and more rewarding, and there was significant damage inflicted to local business revenue due to the resulting uptick in “flash mob” style shoplifting.
Today, Cipriano Vargas sits as a “NextGen” board member of the ACLU San Diego and Imperial County Chapter board.
Meanwhile, Vons in Vista was forced to close after its inability to keep up with the high volume of shoplifting in lieu of Prop 47. According to an Albertsons Manager, when Prop 47 came out, kids figured they wouldn’t be charged with a crime if they worked together in groups “At 2:30pm when school would get out, the local students would flood in and take whatever they desired. We could not stop our product from walking out of the store.”
Cipriano’s friends in the ACLU touted Prop 47 as a fairer form of justice, but instead they robbed their own community of jobs, convenient grocery shopping, and poisoned a future generation into thinking crime is profitable. By cozying himself up on The ACLU of San Diego and Imperial County, Cipriano Vargas is showing us that he is weak on crime, if not encouraging it.
Related News Articles and Sources
Prop 47 “Californians for Safety and Justice”
https://safeandjust.org/wp-content/uploads/P47_Report_Final.pdf
‘Walking out of jail’: Prop 47 frees felons with downgraded charges
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/14/california-feloniestomisdemeanors.html
Vons closure in Vista deepens food insecurity for many
https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2022/07/05/vons-closure-in-vista-deepens-food-insecurity-for-many