Amended in Senate May 13, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 24, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 16, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1276

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section begin delete 3051 end delete begin insert 2905 end insert to the Penal Code, relating to begin delete parole. end delete begin insert youth offenders. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1276, as amended, Bloom. begin delete Parole: juvenile offenders. end delete begin insert Youth offenders: security placement. end insert

begin insert

Existing law begins the term of imprisonment upon the actual delivery of a defendant into the custody of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and requires the place of reception to be an institution under the direction of the Secretary. Existing regulations require that an inmate be assigned to a facility with a security level which corresponds to specified placement score ranges and establishes classification committees for making these determinations.

end insert begin insert

This bill would prohibit a youth offender, as defined, from being classified at the security level corresponding to his or her placement score if his or her in-custody behavior indicates he or she can be safely placed at a lower security level. The bill would require the department to conduct a youth offender Institutional Classification Committee review at reception to provide special classification consideration for every youth offender. The bill would require the department to house a youth offender at a lower security level facility that corresponds with his or her placement score if the department determines that it can safely do so. The bill would require the department to place a youth offender in a housing placement that permits increased access to programs if the department determines that a youth offender is ready for that placement. The bill would require that a youth offender who is denied a lower security level and is placed in the highest security level to be eligible to have his or her placement reconsidered at his or her annual review until age 25. The bill would require the department to revise existing regulations and adopt new regulations pursuant to these provisions, as necessary.

end insert begin delete

Existing law generally regulates the granting and conditioning of parole, and places the duty to monitor parolees on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Adult Parole Operations. Existing law specifies the procedures that the Board of Parole Hearings must follow in granting, denying, or revoking parole.

end delete begin delete

This bill would require, except as otherwise provided by law, a person who was convicted of a nonhomicide offense that was committed before the person had attained 18 years of age to be eligible for consideration for parole after serving 20 or 25 years in state prison, as specified. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature to provide a meaningful opportunity to obtain release according to the standards set forth by the California Supreme Court in People v. Caballero.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

end insert begin insert

(1) As stated by the United States Supreme Court in Miller v.
Alabama (2012) 132 S.Ct. 2455, “only a relatively small proportion
of adolescents” who engage in illegal activity “develop entrenched
patterns of problem behavior,” and “developments in psychology
and brain science continue to show fundamental differences
between juvenile and adult minds,” including “parts of the brain
involved in behavior control.”

end insert begin insert

(2) Important neurological and developmental changes are
occurring in people who are in their late teens through early
adulthood. The Legislature recognizes that these factors enhance
the prospect that, as development progresses and youth mature
into adults, these individuals can become contributing members
of society.

end insert begin insert

(3) One purpose of incarceration is rehabilitation, and young
adults can be especially influenced by positive or negative models.

end insert begin insert

(4) There are often negative influences at higher custody level
facilities. Amenable young adults incarcerated in state prisons
should have access to programs and living circumstances that
increase the likelihood of rehabilitation during these important
developmental stages.

end insert begin insert

(b) The purpose of this act is to establish a mechanism by which
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will make
individual assessments of people entering prison under 22 years
of age and classify these individuals at lower custody level facilities
whenever possible.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 2905 is added to the end insert begin insert Penal Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 2905. end insert   

(a) For purposes of this section, a “youth offender” is
an individual committed to the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation who is under 22 years of age.

(b) (1) The department shall conduct a youth offender Institution
Classification Committee review at reception to provide special
classification consideration for every youth offender. The youth
offender Institutional Classification Committee shall consist of the
staff required by department regulations at any Institutional
Classification Committee, however at least one member shall be
a department staff member specially trained in conducting the
reviews. Training shall include, but not be limited to, adolescent
and young adult development and evidence-based interviewing
processes employing positive and motivational techniques.

(2) The purpose of the youth offender Institutional Classification
Committee review is to meet with the youth offender and assess
the readiness of a youth offender for a lower security level or
placement permitting increased access to programs and to
encourage the youth offender to commit to positive change and
self-improvement. A youth offender shall not be classified at the
security level corresponding with his or her placement score if his
or her in-custody behavior indicates he or she can be safely placed
at a lower security level.

(c) A youthful offender shall be classified for placement at a
lower security level facility than corresponds with his or her
placement score or in a placement that permits increased access
to programs based on consideration of all of the following factors:

(1) Recent in-custody behavior while housed in juvenile or adult
facilities.

(2) Demonstrated efforts of progress toward self-improvement
in juvenile or adult facilities.

(3) Family or community ties supportive of rehabilitation.

(4) Evidence of commitment to working towards
self-improvement with a goal of being a law-abiding member of
society upon release.

(d) The department shall transfer a youth offender to a lower
security level facility if the department determines, based on the
totality of the circumstances, that the youth offender would not
increase the safety risk of the lower security level facility. If the
department determines a youth offender is ready for a housing
placement permitting increased access to programs, the youth
offender shall be transferred to that housing. If the youth offender
demonstrates he or she is a safety risk to inmates, staff, or the
public, and does not otherwise demonstrate a commitment to
rehabilitation, the youth offender shall be reclassified and placed
at a security level that is consistent with department regulations
and procedures.

(e) A youth offender who at his or her initial Youth Offender
Institutional Classification Committee review is denied a lower
security level than corresponds with his or her placement score
or did not qualify for placement permitting increased access to
programs due to previous incarceration history and was placed
in the highest security level shall nevertheless be eligible to have
his or her placement reconsidered pursuant to subdivisions (b) to
(d), inclusive, at his or her annual review until reaching 25 years
of age. If at an annual review it is determined that the youth
offender has had no serious rule violations for one year, the
department shall consider whether the youth would benefit from
placement in a lower level facility or placement permitting
increased access to programs.

(f) The department shall review and, as necessary, revise
existing regulations and adopt new regulations regarding
classification determinations made pursuant to this section, and
provide for training for staff.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 3051 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

3051.  

(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, a person who
was convicted of a nonhomicide offense that was committed before
the person had attained 18 years of age shall be eligible for
consideration for parole pursuant to this article after serving 25
years in state prison. However, if the person was sentenced to less
than 40 years of imprisonment, the person shall be eligible for
consideration for parole pursuant to this article after serving 20
years in state prison. Subsequent parole hearings shall be set
according to Section 3041.5.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a meaningful
opportunity to obtain release according to the standards set forth
by the California Supreme Court in People v. Caballero (2012) 55
Cal.4th 262.

(c) This section does not prohibit the imposition of a life
sentence for juveniles convicted of homicide and does not prohibit
or modify the parole procedures for adult offenders. This section
does not limit the access of juvenile offenders to other programs
and appeals that they were eligible for prior to the enactment of
this section.

end delete