BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A 2013-2014 Regular Session B 4 9 4 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 (More) AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 2 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 (More) AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 3 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 (More) AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 4 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 (More) AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 5 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 (More) AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 6 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: (More) [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 (More) AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 8 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 AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez) Page 9 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."***************