BILL NUMBER: AB 1376	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 13, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bass

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act relating to sentencing.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1376, as amended, Bass. Sentencing.
   Existing law prescribes various penalties for criminal offenses.

   This bill would state the Legislature's findings and declarations
regarding the general purposes of the law on sentencing with regard
to decisions affecting the sentencing of offenders, matters affecting
the administration of the sentencing system, and matters regarding
rehabilitation and recidivism. The bill would declare the intent of
the Legislature to enact legislation that would create an
independent, multijurisdictional body to, among other things, develop
sentencing guidelines and provide a nonpartisan forum for sentencing
policy development.  
   This bill would create an independent, multijurisdictional body to
provide a nonpartisan forum for statewide policy development,
information development, research, and planning concerning criminal
sentences and their effects. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    There is hereby established an
independent, multijurisdictional body to provide a nonpartisan forum
for statewide policy development, information development, research,
and planning concerning criminal sentences and their effects. 

  SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
   The general purposes of the law on sentencing, applicable to all
official actors in the sentencing system, are the following:
   (a) With respect to decisions affecting the sentencing of
individual offenders, those purposes are all of the following:
   (1) To render sentences in all cases within a range of severity
proportionate to the gravity of offenses, the harms done to crime
victims, and the blameworthiness of offenders.
   (2) When reasonably feasible, to achieve offender rehabilitation,
general deterrence, incapacitation of dangerous offenders,
restoration of crime victims and communities, and reintegration of
offenders into the law-abiding community.
   (3) To render sentences no more severe than necessary to achieve
the applicable purposes in paragraphs (1) and (2).
   (b) With respect to matters affecting the administration of the
sentencing system, those purposes are all of the following:
   (1) To preserve judicial discretion to individualize sentences
within a framework of law.
   (2) To produce sentences that are uniform in their reasoned
pursuit of the specified in subdivision (a).
   (3) To eliminate inequities in sentencing across populations.
   (4) To encourage the use of intermediate sanctions.
   (5) To ensure that adequate resources are available for carrying
out sentences imposed and that rational priorities are established
for the use of those resources.
   (6) To ensure that all criminal sanctions are administered in a
humane fashion and that incarcerated offenders are provided
reasonable benefits of subsistence, personal safety, medical and
mental health care, and opportunities to rehabilitate themselves.
   (7) To promote research on sentencing policy and practices,
including assessments of the effectiveness of criminal sanctions as
measured against their purposes and of the effects of criminal
sanctions upon families and communities.
   (8) To increase the transparency of the sentencing and corrections
system, its accountability to the public, and the legitimacy of its
operations as perceived by all affected communities.
   (c) To promote rehabilitation and reduce recidivism among
offenders.  
  SEC. 2.    It is the intent of the Legislature to
enact legislation that would create an independent,
multijurisdictional body to do all of the following:
   (a) Develop sentencing guidelines.
   (b) Collaborate over time with the trial and appellate courts in
the development of a common law of sentencing within the legislative
framework.
   (c) Provide a nonpartisan forum for statewide policy development,
information development, research, and planning concerning criminal
sentences and their effects.
   (d) Assemble and draw upon sources of knowledge, experience, and
community values from all sectors of the criminal justice system, the
public at large, and other jurisdictions.
   (e) Perform its work and provide explanations for its actions
consistent with the purposes of the sentencing system.
   (f) Ensure that all these efforts take place on a permanent and
ongoing basis with the expectation that the sentencing system must
strive continually to evaluate itself, evolve, and improve.