BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 918
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 918 (Block) - As Amended: March 25, 2011
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill adds pimping, pandering, and human trafficking to the
list of offenses used to establish a pattern of criminal
activity for the purpose of enhancing the sentence of a person
who commits a crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
FISCAL EFFECT
Unknown annual GF costs, likely in the range of several hundred
thousand dollars, for increased state prison commitments.
In 2009 and 2010, about 2,400 persons received enhanced state
prison terms under the Street Terrorism Prevention and
Enforcement Act (STEP). In this same period, 150 persons were
committed to state prison for pimping or pandering, and 13 for
human trafficking. If five percent of these convictions received
an 18-month STEP Act enhancement, the annual GF cost would be
about $600,000.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author and law enforcement
proponents, pimping, pandering and human trafficking
activities are increasing at an alarming rate. And although
pimping and pandering currently carry mandatory prison
sentences, there is no enhancement for a street gang
connection. The author contends that adding these offenses to
the STEP Act will reduce this criminal activity.
2)Current law provides that:
AB 918
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a) Any person who actively participates in a criminal
street gang with knowledge that its members engage in or
have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity, who
willfully promotes or assists in any felony conduct by
members of that gang, shall be punished by imprisonment in
a county jail for up to 1 year, or by 16 months, 2, or 3
years in state prison.
"Pattern of criminal gang activity" is defined as the
commission or attempted commission of two or more of a
series of 33 offenses that occurred within three years of a
prior offense, on separate occasions, or by two or more
persons. (The STEP Act.)
A person convicted of a felony committed for the benefit
of, or in association with any criminal street gang, with
the intent to promote or assist in criminal conduct, may
receive an enhanced state prison sentence of 2, 3, or 4
years, or, if the felony is a serious felony - 5 years, or,
if the felony is a violent felony - 10 years.
b) The penalty for human trafficking is 3, 4, or 5 years in
state prison; 4, 6, or 8 years if the victim is under 18.
c) The penalty for pimping or pandering is 3, 4, or 6 years
in state prison; 3, 6, or 8 years if the victim is under
16.
3)Opposition . According to Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children, "Pimping, pandering and human trafficking are
already crimes. People who commit these offenses can be
prosecuted now. Additionally, expanding the use and scope of
the gang statues presents a host of other issues. It can lead
to increased penalties, where a crime is alleged to be "in
furtherance of" a gang. The use of gang databases is suspect,
in that police have an extraordinarily expansive definition of
who is in a gang. It is very difficult to get off a gang
database. Law enforcement approach to gangs is racialized.
Even though a "gang" is defined as an outgoing group of three
or more persons, gang task forces and prosecutions are largely
directed at communities of color. There are more effective
ways to prevent and deter pimping, pandering and human
trafficking than by expanding the scope of our gang statutes."
AB 918
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Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081