Judge Eugene Hyman JD ’77 spoke with CBS Los Angeles News about the recent rise in robberies.

Although he is a supporter of criminal reforms, including Prop 47, retired judge Eugene Hyman believes some progressive policies have gone too far and have created a “catch and release” culture emboldening criminals. He believes the way to stop the wave of lawlessness is to uphold the law.

“One of the problems with this stuff is it’s a revolving door and that’s because the message out there is it’s a misdemeanor, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Then it becomes a $5 million robbery [and] it matters. But I bet you when they catch these people and they examine their lives, they’ve been getting away with stuff for a long, long time and then it escalates.”