BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1276
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1276 (Bloom)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Jones-Sawyer, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Mitchell, Quirk, Skinner | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| | | |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Melendez, Waldron |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| | | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Provides a parole mechanism for a person convicted of a
non-homicide offense that was committed before the person had
attained 18 years of age. Specifically, this bill :
1)States that if the person was sentenced to 40 years or more of
imprisonment, the person shall be eligible for consideration for
parole after serving 25 years in prison.
2)Specifies if the person was sentenced to less than 40 years of
imprisonment, the person shall be eligible for consideration for
parole after serving 20 years in state prison.
3)States legislative intent 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.
4)Provides that subsequent parole hearings shall be set according to
15-, 10-, 7-, 5-, and 3-year denial lengths under existing law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that minors age 14 and older can be subject to
prosecution in adult criminal court depending upon their alleged
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offense and their criminal offense history.
2)Provides that a minor within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
delinquency court may be sentenced to the Department of Juvenile
Facilities or tried as an adult, as specified, if he or she has
been charged with one of the following: murder; arson, as
specified; robbery; rape with force, violence, or threat of great
bodily harm; sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat
of great bodily harm; a lewd or lascivious act on a person under
the age of 14; oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace,
or threat of great bodily harm; forcible sexual penetration, as
specified; kidnapping for ransom; kidnapping for purposes of
robbery; kidnapping with bodily harm; attempted murder; assault
with a firearm or destructive device; assault by any means of
force likely to produce great bodily injury; discharge of a
firearm into an inhabited or occupied building; a specified
violent crime against a person over the age of 60; use of a
firearm in a crime, as specified; a felony offense in which the
minor personally used a weapon specified in existing law; a felony
offense of intimidating or dissuading a witness; manufacturing,
compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more of a salt or
solution of a depressant listed as a controlled substance; a
violent felony or gang crime, as specified; escape, by the use of
force or violence, from a county juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp,
or forestry camp, as specified, if great bodily injury is
intentionally inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility
during the commission of the escape; torture; aggravated mayhem;
carjacking, while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon;
kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault; kidnapping during the
commission of a carjacking; discharging a firearm into a vehicle,
as specified, or; voluntary manslaughter.
3)Specifies if a prosecution is commenced against a minor as a
criminal case as a "direct file" case, which does not require a
prior fitness hearing in juvenile court, and the minor is
convicted of a "direct file" offense, the minor is required to be
sentenced as an adult.
4)Provides, with some exceptions, that when a defendant who was
under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense
for which the defendant was sentenced to imprisonment for life
without the possibility of parole has served at least 15 years of
that sentence, the defendant may submit to the sentencing court a
petition for recall and resentencing and sets forth the
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requirements for filing and granting such a petition.
5)Requires the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to consider the views
and interests of the victim when scheduling parole rehearings, and
provides that the denial period between rehearings shall be 15,
10, 7, 5 or 3 years as specified. An inmate may request BPH to
exercise discretion to advance a set hearing to an earlier date,
by submitting a written request to BPH which sets forth new
information or a change in circumstances. BPH has the sole
discretion to determine whether to grant or deny a request. An
inmate is allowed to make one written request during each three
year period following a summary denial or decision of BPH.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Moderate annual General Fund (GF) costs to the BPH, in excess of
$150,000, to hold additional parole hearings. If the BPH held an
additional 500 hearings per year, the cost would be in the range
of $150,000, assuming one hour per hearing and five personnel
equivalents.
2)These costs would likely be more than offset by an accompanying
reduction in writs of Habeas Corpus, by which inmates challenge
their convictions and/or sentences.
3)Potentially significant annual out-year GF savings to the extent
inmates are actually paroled as a result of this bill. For
example, for every 10 inmates who receive parole hearings and are
actually paroled, and end up serving 30 years rather than life,
assuming a marginal per capita cost of $25,000 per inmate, the
annual savings will be about $250,000. Savings at this rate would
increase annually to about $2.5 million in 10 years.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 1276 gives juveniles who
were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for a crime
other than homicide a second chance to demonstrate that they are
capable of rehabilitation. This bill provides these youth automatic
parole consideration after serving 25 years in prison and aligns
California law with a United States Supreme Court mandate that a
juvenile offender have a meaningful opportunity for release."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of
this bill.
AB 1276
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Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0000911