BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2054
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2054 (Miller) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 6-0
Urgency: 6-0 State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill adds rape accomplished by an intoxicating substance or
rape of an unconscious person to the list of violent offenses
for which the defendant may only receive 15% work time credit,
rather than day-for-day credits pursuant to current law.
FISCAL EFFECT
Significant annual GF costs in the range of $2.5 million for
longer prison terms.
Based on an average of 30 persons committed to state prison over
the past two years for rape accomplished by an intoxicating
substance or rape of an unconscious person, for which the
penalty is 3, 6, or 8 years, and assuming the mid-term of 6
years, 30 offenders would serve an additional 25 months, which
equates to about $1.35 million in three years when these
offenders would leave prison under current law, assuming
day-for-day sentence credits. Under this scenario, in five
years, about 60 offenders who would have been paroled under
current law would still be serving time, at an annual cost of
about $2.7 million.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends that rape accomplished by an
intoxicating substance or rape of an unconscious person should
be added to the list of offenses that limit sentence credit to
15% as these offenses should not be treated more leniently
because force was not involved as the victim was unable to
resist.
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2)Current law provides that most determinately-sentenced inmates
receive day-for-day (50%) sentence credits; the exceptions are
specified violent felonies, which are limited to 15% credit,
and inmates serving under a second or third strike, which
limits credits to 20%.
3)Violent felonies are defined as any of the following: murder
or voluntary manslaughter; mayhem; rape or spousal rape
accomplished by means of force or threats of retaliation;
sodomy by force or fear of immediate bodily injury on the
victim or another person; oral copulation by force or fear of
immediate bodily injury on the victim or another person; lewd
acts on a child under the age of 14 years, as defined; any
felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison
for life; any felony in which the defendant inflicts great
bodily injury on any person other than an accomplice, or any
felony in which the defendant has used a firearm, as
specified; any robbery; arson of a structure, forest land, or
property that causes great bodily injury; arson that causes an
inhabited structure or property to burn; sexual penetration
accomplished against the victim's will by means of force,
menace or fear of immediate bodily injury on the victim or
another person; attempted murder; explosion or attempted
explosion of a destructive device with the intent to commit
murder; explosion or ignition of any destructive device or any
explosive which causes bodily injury to any person; explosion
of a destructive device which causes death or great bodily
injury; kidnapping; assault with intent to commit mayhem,
rape, sodomy or oral copulation; continuous sexual abuse of a
child; carjacking, as defined; rape or penetration of genital
or anal openings by a foreign object; felony extortion;
threats to victims or witnesses, as specified; first degree
burglary, as defined, where it is proved that another person
other than an accomplice, was present in the residence during
the burglary; use of a firearm during the commission of
specified crimes; and, possession, development, production,
and transfers of weapons of mass destruction.
4)Impact on Budget, Prison Overcrowding and Court Ruling to
Reduce Inmate Population . Federal courts have ruled inmate
overcrowding is a primary factor in what the courts have
determined to be unconstitutional levels of prison medical
care. This year the court ordered California to reduce its
inmate population by about 40,000 inmates to achieve an
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overcrowding level of 137.5% of capacity. Last year the
Legislature considered measures designed to reduce the inmate
population by about 37,000 and $1.2 billion in 2010-11. The
result of those deliberations is currently a projected savings
of about $780 million in 2010-11 and a population reduction of
about 14,000, including parole reforms, inmate program
reductions, and increased sentence credits. The governor's
budget proposes an additional reduction of about $1.1 billion
for 2010-11, including a population reduction of about 13,000.
5)Drafting Concern . The section amended by this bill, PC Section
2933.1, does not list the offenses limited to 15% credit;
rather the section cross references the violent felony list
(PC Section 667.5). As noted by the Public Safety Committee
analysis, consistent statutory construction suggests adding PC
Section 261(a)(3) and (4) to PC Section 667.5 if this measure
moves forward.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081