BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó







                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                            Senator Loni Hancock, Chair              A
                             2013-2014 Regular Session               B

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          AB 494 (V. Manuel Pérez)                                    
          As Amended May 7, 2013
          Hearing date:  May 14, 2013
          Penal Code
          MK:jr


                          PRISONERS: LITERACY AND EDUCATION  


                                       HISTORY


          Source:  Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000

          Prior Legislation: AB 900 (Solorio) Chapter 7, Stats. 2007

          Support: California Public Defenders Association; California  
                   Attorneys for Criminal Justice; American Civil  
                   Liberties Union; Legal Services for Prisoners with  
                   Children; The National Association of Social Workers,  
                   California Chapter; California Catholic Conference;  
                   California Correctional Peace Officers Association

          Opposition:Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety

          Assembly Floor Vote:  Ayes 76 - Noes 0




                                         KEY ISSUE
           




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                                                   AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez)
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          SHOULD THE LITERACY PROGRAM IN THE STATE PRISON BE UPDATED TO  
          MEET THE CURRENT PLAN SET FORTH BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS  
          AND REHABILITATION?


                                       PURPOSE

          The purpose of this bill is to update the literacy program goals  
          in the state prisons.
          
           Existing law  states that the Legislature finds and declares that  
          there is a correlation between prisoners who are functionally  
          literate and those who successfully reintegrate into society  
          upon release. (Penal Code § 2053(a).) 

           Existing law  requires CDCR to implement in every state prison  
          literacy programs that are designed to ensure that inmates are  
          able to read at a ninth-grade level upon parole. (Penal Code §  
          2053.1.) 

           This bill  provides instead that the literacy programs shall be  
          designed to meet the goals contained in CDCR's plan entitled "  
          The Future of California Corrections: A Blueprint to Save  
          Billions of Dollars, End Federal Oversight, and Improve the  
          Prison System."

           Existing law  requires CDCR to make the literacy program  
          available to at least 25% of eligible inmates by July 1, 1991,  
          and at least 60% of eligible inmates by January 1, 1996. (Penal  
          Code § 2053.1.) 

           This bill  provides that the literacy program shall be  
          implemented as follows:

                 CDCR shall offer academic programming throughout an  
               inmate's incarceration that shall focus on increasing the  
               reading ability of an inmate to at least a 9th grade level.
                 For inmates reading at a 9th grade level or higher, CDCR  
               shall focus on helping the inmate obtain a GED, or its  




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                                                   AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez)
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               equivalent,  or a high school diploma.
                 CDCR shall offer college programs through voluntary  
               education programs or equivalent programs.
                 While CDCR shall offer education to target populations,  
               priority shall be given to those with a criminogenic need  
               of education, those who have a need based on their  
               educational achievement level, or other factors as  
               determined by CDCR.
           
           This bill  makes Legislative findings and declarations.
                                          
                                          
                    RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION

          For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's  
          prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation  
          relating to conditions of confinement.  On May 23, 2011, the  
          United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its  
          prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two  
          years from the date of its ruling, subject to the right of the  
          state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances.   

          Beginning in early 2007, Senate leadership initiated a policy to  
          hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate the  
          prison overcrowding crisis through new or expanded felony  
          prosecutions.  Under the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which  
          stands for "Receivership/ Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the  
          Committee held measures which created a new felony, expanded the  
          scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increased  
          the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate  
          the prison overcrowding crisis.  Under these principles, ROCA  
          was applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary  
          to ensure that the Legislature did not erode progress towards  
          reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation which would  
          increase the prison population.  ROCA necessitated many hard and  
          difficult decisions for the Committee.

          In January of 2013, just over a year after the enactment of the  
          historic Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, the State of  




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                                                   AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez)
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          California filed court documents seeking to vacate or modify the  
          federal court order issued by the Three-Judge Court three years  
          earlier to reduce the state's prison population to 137.5 percent  
          of design capacity.  The State submitted in part that the, ". .  
          .  population in the State's 33 prisons has been reduced by over  
          24,000 inmates since October 2011 when public safety realignment  
          went into effect, by more than 36,000 inmates compared to the  
          2008 population . . . , and by nearly 42,000 inmates since 2006  
          . . . ."  Plaintiffs, who opposed the state's motion, argue in  
          part that, "California prisons, which currently average 150% of  
          capacity, and reach as high as 185% of capacity at one prison,  
          continue to deliver health care that is constitutionally  
          deficient."  In an order dated January 29, 2013, the federal  
          court granted the state a six-month extension to achieve the  
          137.5 % prisoner population cap by December 31st of this year.  

          In an order dated April 11, 2013, the Three-Judge Court denied  
          the state's motions, and ordered the state of California to  
          "immediately take all steps necessary to comply with this  
          Court's . . . Order . . . requiring defendants to reduce overall  
          prison population to 137.5% design capacity by December 31,  
          2013."         

          The ongoing litigation indicates that prison capacity and  
          related issues concerning conditions of confinement remain  
          unresolved.  However, in light of the real gains in reducing the  
          prison population that have been made, although even greater  
          reductions are required by the court, the Committee will review  
          each ROCA bill with more flexible consideration.  The following  
          questions will inform this consideration:

                 whether a measure erodes realignment;
                 whether a measure addresses a crime which is directly  
               dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there  
               is no other reasonably appropriate sanction; 
                 whether a bill corrects a constitutional infirmity or  
               legislative drafting error; 
                 whether a measure proposes penalties which are  
               proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other  




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               reasonably appropriate remedy; and
                 whether a bill addresses a major area of public safety  
               or criminal activity for which there is no other  
               reasonable, appropriate remedy.



                                      COMMENTS

          1.  Need for the Bill  

          According to the author:

               In 1986, San Diego Legislator Larry Sterling authored  
               legislation to set standards for inmates who were  
               enrolled in academic classes while they were  
               incarcerated within the state prison system. The  
               standard set was 60% of inmates would upon parole, be  
               able to read at a ninth grade level by 1996. Twenty-  
               seven years later, according to the department, 23-30%  
               of inmates read below the third grade level, 68% above  
               the seventh grade level and 52% above the ninth grade  
               level.

               According to the California Department of Education,  
               the 1996 high school graduation rate among California  
               high school students was 66.3%. The graduation rate has  
               continued on a slow upwards trend over the past 16  
               years. By 2012, the high school graduation rate has  
               climbed to 76.3%.

               This legislation updates antiquated law.  As amended,  
               it would provide a template for success based upon the  
               Department's own Blueprint. The bill would set some  
               basic standards for the use of education program  
               dollars that are already in the budget.  This is an  
               area of the law that needs to be revisited and updated  
               given the growing need for an educated workforce.  
               Studies continue to show a correlation between a  




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               decrease in recidivism as education level increases.   
               Setting standards to increase the literacy levels of  
               inmates who parole will save money by ensuring that  
               those who leave prison will have the skills necessary  
               to successfully live in the communities they return to  
               following their incarceration.
          
          
          2.  Effectiveness of the Prison Educational System as Implemented  

          According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, as of 2008, "the  
          current set of CDCR education programs reach only a small  
          segment of the inmate population who could benefit from them.  
          The CDCR now enrolls about 54,000 inmates in education programs  
          for a system with 173,000 inmates, and barely one-half of  
          those-27,000 inmates-are in the core traditional academic  
          vocational training programs ? most likely to improve the  
          educational attainment of inmates and thus their employability  
          upon their release." (Legislative Analyst's Office, From  
          Cellblocks to Classrooms: Reforming Education to Improve Public  
          Safety (February 2008) p. 11.) 

          CDCR, however, states that the decline of state prison inmate  
          populations due to criminal justice realignment "has provided  
          the opportunity to increase access and improve its  
          rehabilitative programs, which will significantly lower  
          California's recidivism rate." (CDCR, The Future of California  
          Corrections: A Blue Print to Save Billions of Dollars, End  
          Federal Oversight, and Improve the Prison System (2012)  
          In-Prison Rehabilitative Programs, p. 21  
           http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/2012plan/docs/plan/complete.pdf   .  )   
          Specifically the plan:











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               [A]dds 159 academic teachers over a 2-year period.  
               Academic programming will be offered throughout an  
               inmate's incarceration and will focus on increasing an  
               inmate's reading ability to at least a ninth-grade  
               level. For inmates reading at ninth-grade level or  
               higher, the focus will be on helping the inmate obtain  
               a general education development certificate. College  
               programs will be offered through the voluntary  
               education program. While education will be offered to  
               all inmates, priority will be given to those with a  
               criminogenic need for education. (Id. Page 22)
          
          3.  Changes to the Literacy Goal  

          This bill changes the literacy goals for CDCR that are in  
          existing law to match those recommended by the 2012 plan created  
          by CDCR.  Specifically they provide that:

                 CDCR shall offer academic programming throughout an  
               inmate's incarceration that shall focus on increasing the  
               reading ability of an inmate to at least a 9th grade level.
                 For inmates reading at a 9th grade level or higher, CDCR  
               shall focus on helping the inmate obtain a GED, or its  
               equivalent, or a high school diploma.
                 CDCR shall offer college programs through voluntary  
               education programs or equivalent programs.
                 While CDCR shall offer education to target populations,  
               priority shall be given to those with a criminogenic need  
               of education, those who have a need based on their  
               educational achievement level, or other factors as  
               determined by CDCR.

          4.  Support
           
              SEIU, the sponsor of this bill, states:

               The literacy goal in current law conflicts with the  
               fact that inmates leaving prison with a ninth grade  
               education will have a difficult time of navigating an  




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               ever more complex world, and in particular, finding  
               employment. This is an area of the Penal Code that  
               needs to be revisited and updated given the changing  
               goals of CDCR and the growing need for an education  
               workforce.  Studies continue to show a strong  
               correlation between decreasing rates of recidivism as  
               education levels increase. Setting higher standards for  
               inmate literacy will enhance public safety, reduce the  
               impact of crime, lower incarceration costs and support  
               the opportunity for prison inmates to turn themselves  
               into productive citizens.




          The California Public Defenders Association supports this bill,  
          stating:

               If implemented, this bill would act in furtherance of  
               the overarching goals of parole: to prevent recidivism  
               and reintegrate former prisoners into society. Literacy  
               educational programs in prison would assist parolees in  
               future educational and employment opportunities,  
               boosting former prisoners' chances of becoming  
               productive and contributing members of the communities  
               into which they are reintegrated upon release. Such  
               investment will benefit society as a whole in parolees'  
               reduced dependence on government assistance programs  
               and reduced recidivism rates, with a corollary  
               reduction in the costs associated with future  
               incarceration.

          5.  Specific Reference to the Report  .

          This bill specifically refers to the 2012 plan by CDCR in  
          the codified section of this bill.   Since the specific  
          reference is also made in the uncodified findings, is the  
          reference in the codified section necessary or should it be  
          deleted since it will date the section?  Because this bill  



                                                                           







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          takes the goals from that report the bill, on page 2 lines  
          23 through 26, page 3 lines 1-4 the bill could be amended to  
          read:

               The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and  
               Rehabilitation shall implement in every state prison  
               literacy programs that are designed to ensure that upon  
               parole inmates are able to achieve the goals contained  
               in this section.  contained in the department's plan  
               entitled, "The Future of California Corrections: A  
               Blueprint to Save Billions of Dollars, End Federal  
               Oversight, and Improve the Prison System."  


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