BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Gloria Romero, Chair S
2007-2008 Regular Session B
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SB 425 (Margett)
As Amended April 16, 2007
Hearing date: April 24, 2007
Government Code; Health and Safety Code;
Penal Code; Welfare and Institutions Code
MK:br
OMNIBUS
HISTORY
Source: Attorney General's Office
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
California District Attorneys Association
Judicial Council
Prior Legislation: SB 1422 (Margett) - Ch. 901, Stats. 2006
SB 1107 (SCoPS) - Ch. 279, Stats. 2005
SB 1796 (SCoPS) - Ch. 405, Stats. 2004
SB 851 (SCoPS) - Ch. 468, Stats. 2003
SB 1852 (SCoPS) - Ch. 545, Stats. 2002
SB 485 (SCoPS) - Ch. 473, Stats. 2001
SB 832 (SCoPS) - Ch. 853, Stats. 1999
SB 1880 (SCoPS) - Ch. 606, Stats. 1998
Support: Unknown
Opposition:None known
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD TECHNICAL AND CORRECTIVE CHANGES BE MADE IN VARIOUS PENAL
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SB 425 (Margett)
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STATUTES?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to make technical and corrective
changes in various penal statutes.
Correction of Constitutional Problems
Existing case law in Kolender v. Lawson (1983) 461 U.S. 352
found Penal Code Section 647 (e) to be unconstitutional.
This bill deletes that unconstitutional subdivision by
rearranging the other subdivisions.
Corrections and Cross-References in Various Statutes
Existing law contains an incorrect cross-reference to a
non-existent Government Code Section 29950.3. (Government
Code 29551 (d).)
This bill corrects that cross-reference by instead referring to
Government Code Section 29550.3.
Existing law contains an incorrect cross-reference to City of
Los Angeles security officers in Penal Code Section 830.7 (i)
regarding who can enforce waste disposal laws. (Health and
Safety Code 117560.)
This bill corrects that cross-reference by instead correctly
referring to illegal dumping enforcement officers in Penal Code
Section 830.7 (j).
Existing law makes an incorrect cross-reference to the Federal
Code. (Penal Code 530.5 (e).)
This bill changes that cross-reference to Section 1708 of 18 USC
to correctly cover the federal crime of mail theft.
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Existing law contains an incorrect cross-reference to paragraph 3
of subdivision (c) of Section 192. (Penal Code 977 (a)(3).)
This bill corrects that cross-reference to subdivision (b) of
Section 191.5 because the crime of vehicular manslaughter while
intoxicated was renumbered.
Grammatical and Related Errors
Existing law refers to the people's power to dismiss a case.
(Penal Code 1538.5 (j).)
This bill corrects that reference to state "either on the
court's own motion or the motion of the people" to conform with
case law.
Existing law refers to "residential." (Welfare and Institutions
Code 6608.8 (e).)
This bill replaces "residential" with "residence" to make the
language grammatically accurate.
Changes Made for Consistency, Coordination and Clarity of the
Codes
Existing law provides in part that before a party may seek
court enforcement of any of the disclosures required by this
chapter, the party shall make an informal request of opposing
counsel for the desired materials and information. If within
15 days the opposing counsel fails to provide the materials
and information requested the party may seek a court order.
(Penal Code 1054.5 (b).)
This bill changes the word "provide" to "disclose" to be
consistent with other discovery provisions.
Existing law lists enhancements included in "specific
enhancements" meaning an enhancement that relates to the
circumstances of a crime. (Penal Code 1170.11.)
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This bill adds Health and Safety Code Section 11380.7 to that
list.
Existing law specifies which prosecutors can inspect a juvenile
case file. (Welfare and Institutions Code 827.)
This bill adds the Attorney General to that list.
Existing law provides that records regarding the arrest and
conviction for less than an ounce of marijuana sha11 not be kept
beyond two years from the date of conviction and arrest. (Health
and Safety Code 11361.5.)
This bill provides that records must be destroyed within 2 years
where the only entries on the record refer to the possession of
marijuana charge.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION ("ROCA")
IMPLICATIONS
California currently faces an extraordinary and severe prison
and jail overcrowding crisis. California's prison capacity is
nearly exhausted as prisons today are being operated with a
significant level of overcrowding.<1> In addition, California's
jails likewise are significantly overcrowded. Twenty California
counties are operating under jail population caps. According to
the State Sheriffs' Association, "counties are currently
releasing 18,000 pre and post-sentenced inmates every month and
many counties are so overcrowded they do not accept misdemeanor
bookings in any form, . . . ."<2> In January of this year the
Legislative Analyst's office summarized the trajectory of
California's inmate population over the last two decades:
During the past 20 years, jail and prison
populations have increased significantly. County
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<1> Analysis of the 2007-08 Budget Bill: Judicial and Criminal
Justice, Legislative Analyst's Office (February 21, 2007).
<2> Memorandum from CSSA President Gary Penrod to Governor,
February 14, 2007.
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jail populations have increased by about 66
percent over that period, an amount that has been
limited by court-ordered population caps. The
prison population has grown even more dramatically
during that period, tripling since the
mid-1980s.<3>
The level of overcrowding, and the impact of the population
crisis on the day-to-day prison operations, is staggering:
As of December 31, 2006, the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was
estimated to have 173,100 inmates in the state
prison system, based on CDCR's fall 2006
population projections. However, . . . the
department only operates or contracts for a total
of 156,500 permanent bed capacity (not including
out-of-state beds, . . . ), resulting in a
shortfall of about 16,600 prison beds relative to
the inmate population. The most significant bed
shortfalls are for Level I, II, and IV inmates, as
well as at reception centers. As a result of the
bed deficits, CDCR houses about 10 percent of the
inmate population in temporary beds, such as in
dayrooms and gyms. In addition, many inmates are
housed in facilities designed for different
security levels. For example, there are currently
about 6,000 high security (Level IV) inmates
housed in beds designed for Level III inmates.
. . . (S)ignificant overcrowding has both
operational and fiscal consequences. Overcrowding
and the use of temporary beds create security
concerns, particularly for medium- and
high-security inmates. Gyms and dayrooms are not
designed to provide security coverage as well as
in permanent housing units, and overcrowding can
contribute to inmate unrest, disturbances, and
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<3> California's Criminal Justice System: A Primer.
Legislative Analyst's Office (January 2007).
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assaults. This can result in additional state
costs for medical treatment, workers'
compensation, and staff overtime. In addition,
overcrowding can limit the ability of prisons to
provide rehabilitative, health care, and other
types of programs because prisons were not
designed with sufficient space to provide these
services to the increased population. The
difficulty in providing inmate programs and
services is exacerbated by the use of program
space to house inmates. Also, to the extent that
inmate unrest is caused by overcrowding,
rehabilitation programs and other services can be
disrupted by the resulting lockdowns.<4>
As a result of numerous lawsuits, the state has entered into
several consent decrees agreeing to improve conditions in the
state's prisons. As these cases have continued over the past
several years, prison conditions nonetheless have failed to
improve and, over the last year, the scrutiny of the federal
courts over California's prisons has intensified.
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<4> Analysis 2007-08 Budget Bill, supra, fn. 1.
In February of 2006, the federal court appointed a receiver to
take over the direct management and operation of the prison
medical health care delivery system from the state. Motions
filed in December of 2006 are now pending before three federal
court judges in which plaintiffs are seeking a court-ordered
limit on the prison population pursuant to the federal Prison
Litigation Reform Act. Medical, mental health and dental care
programs at CDCR each are "currently under varying levels of
federal court supervision based on court rulings that the state
has failed to provide inmates with adequate care as required
under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The courts
found key deficiencies in the state's correctional programs,
including: (1) an inadequate number of staff to deliver health
care services, (2) an inadequate amount of clinical space within
prisons, (3) failures to follow nationally recognized health
care guidelines for treating inmate-patients, and (4) poor
coordination between health care staff and custody staff."<5>
This bill will not aggravate the prison and jail overcrowding
crisis outlined above.
COMMENTS
1. Purpose of This Bill
This is the annual omnibus bill. In the past it has been
introduced by all Members of the Committee on Public Safety but
this bill and the one from last year were introduced by Senator
Margett. This bill is similar to the ones introduced as
Committee bills in the past in that it was introduced with the
following understanding:
Its provisions make only technical or minor changes to the
law.
There is no opposition by any Member of the Legislature or
recognized group to the proposal.
This procedure has allowed for introduction of fewer minor bills
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<5> Primer, supra, fn. 4.
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and has saved the Legislature time and expense. The following
bills had the same intent as this bill:
SB 1422 (Margett) - Ch. 901, Stats. 2006
SB 1107 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 279,
Statutes 2005
SB 1796 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 405,
Stats. 2004
SB 851 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 468,
Stats. 2003
SB 1852 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 545,
Stats. 2002
SB 485 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 473,
Stats. 2001
SB 832 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 853,
Stats. 1999
SB 1880 (Senate Committee on Public Safety) - Ch. 606,
Stats. 1998
2. Repeal of Penal Code Section 647 (e)
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department pointed out that
Kolender v. Lawson (1983) 461 U.S. 352 found unconstitutional
Penal Code Section 647 (e) relating to loitering. This bill
deletes that subdivision and replaces it with the current
subdivision (j) so that the remaining charging subdivisions are
not changed.
3. Changes to Courts Destruction of Records
Judicial Council noted the difficulty the court has in meeting
the requirement that records pertaining to arrest or conviction
for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana (Health and
Safety Code 11357 (b), (c), (d) and (e)) when those same
records also contain other charges that must be kept for longer
than that. This bill would clarify the requirement of
destruction of records to provide that the records must not be
kept beyond 2 years where the only entries on the record are
these marijuana offenses.
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4. Other Changes
As noticed in the purpose section of this analysis, the other
changes in this bill are technical or grammatical.
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