10.5.3: California Penal Code §459.5(a) – Shoplifting

This crime was created in 2014 by the California voters by way of Proposition 47. Prior to Prop 47 the monetary threshold was lower ($450) and repeated thefts would result in felony charges (PC 488[repealed]).

459.5.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 459, shoplifting is defined as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). Any other entry into a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny is burglary. Shoplifting shall be punished as a misdemeanor, except that a person with one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 may be punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

(b) Any act of shoplifting as defined in subdivision (a) shall be charged as shoplifting. No person who is charged with shoplifting may also be charged with burglary or theft of the same property.

 

(Added November 4, 2014, by initiative Proposition 47, Sec. 5.)

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