You know, you should always give credit where credit's due.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bipartisan bill that would restore more harsh penalties on those who steal more than $50,000 worth of goods.

California and across the country, there is a major problem with respect to smash and grab thefts, where groups of assailants will rush into high-end stores in the middle of the day while the public is inside wearing masks and armed with hammers and other deadly weapons, and steal much of their high-end merchandise.

But California in particular has a major problem with this, and with more petty thefts in general. Places in California, you can't leave a backpack in your car without your windows getting broken, and the contents of your car getting stolen.

We need more harsh penalties for these criminals, so they can learn that they can't act without impunity. We need more resources diverted into finding where they operate, how they operate, and in conducting sting operations to catch these criminals. We also need prosecutors who are actually willing to prosecute them.

Hopefully this is the start of tougher legislation in California that will finally penalize criminals in a far more effective manner.