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> when the law states that there are no consequences for theft

What law, in what jurisdiction, states this?

Here’s an article from San Francisco [0].

> Under current state law, shoplifting merchandise valued under $950 is considered a misdemeanor and often not investigated.

The law classifies it as a misdemeanor. Police aren’t investigating and prosecutors aren’t prosecuting.

So it’s an issue of enforcing law vs technically having a law.

Cities can individually choose to change this and deter shoplifting by prosecuting this as misdemeanors can still have up to a year in jail.

[0] https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/shoplifting-san-fr...

It's hard to choose to prosecute misdemeanors when you already have a backlog of felonies, the jails and prisons are already full, etc. This is not a unique situation in San Francisco, though it is often claimed that the level of theft there is unique.

And this isn't exactly the same thing as the law saying there are no consequences, which is what the parent poster was claiming.

They weren’t previously misdemeanors, which is part of the problem. They made a felony on par with jaywalking.

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