Attorneys general in a few states have recently gotten involved in prosecuting organized retail crime and lobbying for stricter retail theft penalties recently.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined Fox Business' "The Evening Edit" on Monday to discuss some states recently changing course on how they punish property crimes.

Marshall said, "[W]e saw tremendous improvement in New York (in the 1990s), for example, with the broken windows theory where we weren't going to ignore minor offenses and be able to hold individuals accountable." 

"Yet, we've seen a growing trend, and look, even in Alabama, we had a Republican legislature that created a felony offense that included property crimes in which someone couldn't go to jail, and I think that's wrong," he continued. "We've begun to see the fallacy of that policy, and the good thing is that I think we're seeing not only attorneys general in Nevada and in Illinois and in other places recognizing this, but it's also an understanding of that important role that a local D.A. plays and why the Soros influence is so bad for communities."

Marshall went on to say that "when you see Soros-backed D.A.s, for example, who have said that they're going to ignore lower-level crimes, this is the result that you get." 

"It shouldn't surprise us, for example, that San Francisco is the leader in many of these smash-and-grabs that are going on in many of our cities because they have individuals in positions of leadership that are refusing to enforce the law," Marshall said.

Conservatives and law enforcement groups have criticized George Soros, a liberal philanthropist, for bankrolling the campaigns of some local district attorneys' races across the nation.

To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.

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