BILL NUMBER: AB 1276 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 13, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 24, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
( Principal coauthor: Senator
Hancock )
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Section 2905 to the Penal Code, relating to youth
offenders.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1276, as amended, Bloom. Youth offenders: security placement.
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 that
corresponds to specified placement score ranges and establishes
classification committees for making these determinations.
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
consider placing a youth offender at a lower security level
facility that than corresponds with his
or her placement score if the department
determines that it can safely do so. classification
score, or placing a youth offender in a facility that permits
increased access to programs, based on the Institutional
Classification Committee review and other factors, including, among
others, the youth offenders recent in-custody behavior. The
bill would require the department to place
transfer 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. to
a lower security level facility if the department determines that he
or she may appropriately be placed at a lower security level
facility. 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. The bill would make
these provisions operative July 1, 2015.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(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."
(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.
(3) One purpose of incarceration is rehabilitation, and young
adults can be especially influenced by positive or negative models.
There are often negative influences at higher custody level
facilities. In addition, younger inmates tend to be more vulnerable
to physical and sexual assault at those facilities.
(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.
(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.
SEC. 2. Section 2905 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
2905. (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 youth offender shall
be classified considered for placement
at a lower security level facility than
corresponds with his or her placement
classification score or in a placement
in a facility that permits increased access to programs based
on consideration of all of the following factors:
the Institutional Classification Committee review and factors
including, but not limited to, the following:
(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
toward 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 If the
department determines, based on the totality of the
circumstances, review described in subdivisions (b)
and (c) that the youth offender would not increase the
safety risk of the lower security level facility. may
be appropriately placed at a lower security level, the
department shall transfer the youth offender to a lower security
level facility. If the youth offender is denied a lower security
level, then he or she shall be consid ered for placement
in a facility that permits increased access to programs. If the
department determines a youth offender is ready for a
housing placement may appropriately be placed in a
facility permitting increased access to programs, the youth
offender shall be transferred to that housing. If
such a facility.
(e) 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)
( f) 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)
( g) 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.
(h) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2015.