BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 61|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 61
Author: Yee (D)
Amended: 5/28/13
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/23/13
AYES: Hancock, Block, De León, Liu, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson, Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SUBJECT : Juveniles: solitary confinement
SOURCE : California Public Defenders Association
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights: Books not Bars
Youth Justice Coalition
DIGEST : This bill establishes standards and protocols for the
use of solitary confinement in state and local juvenile
facilities for the confinement of delinquent wards, as
specified, and makes changes to the composition and duties of
local juvenile justice commissions, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Permits minors who are detained in juvenile hall for habitual
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disobedience, truancy, or curfew violation to be held in the
same facility as minors who are detained for violating any law
or ordinance defining a crime, if they do not come or remain
in contact with each other.
2.Permits the detention of minors in jails and other secure
facilities for the confinement of adults if the minors do not
come, or remain, in contact with confined adults and other
specified conditions are met.
3.The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, authorizes the involuntary
detention for a period of 72 hours for evaluation of persons,
including minors, who are dangerous to self or others, or
gravely disabled, as defined.
4.Establishes a juvenile justice commission in each county, but
authorizes the boards of supervisors of two or more adjacent
counties to agree to establish a regional juvenile justice
commission in lieu of a county juvenile justice commission.
5.Specifies the membership of these commissions, including that
two or more members shall be persons who are between 14 and 21
years of age, inclusive, and that a regional juvenile justice
commission shall consist of not less than eight citizens.
6.Requires a juvenile justice commission to annually inspect any
jail or lockup that, in the preceding calendar year, was used
for confinement for more than 24 hours of any minor, and to
report the results of the inspection, together with its
recommendations based thereon, in writing, to the juvenile
court and the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC).
7.Authorizes a commission to recommend to any person charged
with the administration of the Juvenile Court Law those
changes as it has concluded, after investigation, will be
beneficial, and to publicize its recommendations.
This bill:
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1.Enacts new statutory provisions regulating the use of
"solitary confinement" in juvenile facilities with the
following features and requirements:
A. The minor or ward shall be held in solitary confinement
only for the minimum time required to address the safety
risk, and that does not compromise the mental and physical
health of the minor or ward.
B. The minor or ward shall not be placed in solitary
confinement for more than 24 hours in a one-week period
without the written approval of the Chief of the Division
of Juvenile Facilities, or his/her designee, or the chief
probation officer, or his/her designee, which shall be
required for each 24-hour period thereafter.
C. Solitary confinement shall not be used for the purposes
of discipline, punishment, coercion, convenience, or
retaliation by staff.
D. Each local and state juvenile facility shall document
the usage of solitary confinement, including the dates and
duration of each occurrence, the reason for placement in
solitary confinement, and the race, age, and gender of the
minor or ward placed in solitary confinement. If any
health or mental health clinical evaluations were
performed, these records shall affirmatively certify that
the results of those evaluations were considered in any
decision to place a minor or ward in solitary confinement
or to continue solitary confinement. These records shall be
available for public inspection, as specified.
2.Defines "solitary confinement" to mean "the involuntary
holding of a person in a room or cell from which the person is
prevented from leaving, in isolation from persons other than
guards, facility staff, and attorneys, during hours other than
a facility's sleeping hours."
3.Defines "minor" to mean a person who is any of the following:
A. A person under 18 years of age.
B. A person under the maximum age of juvenile court
jurisdiction who is confined in a juvenile facility.
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C. A person under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Division of Juvenile
Facilities.
1.Defines "ward" to mean a person who has been declared a
delinquent ward of the court, as specified.
2.Provides that a "minor or ward who is detained in, or
sentenced to, any juvenile facility or other secure state or
local facility shall not be subject to solitary confinement,
unless the minor or ward poses an immediate and substantial
risk of harm to others or to the security of the facility, and
all other less-restrictive options have been exhausted."
3. Provides that nothing in its provisions "shall be construed
to conflict with any law providing greater or additional
protections to minors or wards."
4. Requires that two or more members shall be parents or
guardians of previously or currently incarcerated youth, and
that one member shall be a licensed social worker, licensed
psychiatrist, or licensed psychologist with expertise in
adolescent development.
5. Requires the Juvenile Justice Commission to report the
results of its inspections to the county board of
supervisors, to present these reports at an annual hearing on
the condition of juvenile justice corrections as part of a
regularly scheduled public meeting of the county board of
supervisors, and to publish these reports on the county
government Internet Web site.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Minor annual costs (General Fund) to CDCR Division of
Juvenile Facilities to meet the requirements of this bill.
Unknown, potentially significant annual
state-reimbursable costs (General Fund) for local juvenile
facilities to comply with the reporting requirements on the
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use of solitary confinement, as defined.
Minor, ongoing local costs to effectuate the changes to
juvenile justice commission membership. Ongoing costs of
about $30,000 (General Fund) to the BSCC for revised and
extended training provided to juvenile justice commission
members.
Potentially significant ongoing state-reimbursable costs
for local juvenile justice commissions to expand the list
of annual inspections of jails and lockup facilities to
include any facility within the county used for confinement
of a minor for more than 24 hours. Additional
state-mandated costs to expand its review to records of
solitary confinement newly required under this bill's
provisions, as well as increased reporting requirements to
the county board of supervisors.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/23/13)
California Public Defenders Association (co-source)
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights: Books Not Bars (co-source)
Youth Justice Coalition (co-source)
AFSCME
All of Us or None
All Saints Church
All Saints Church, Foster Care Project
American Civil Liberties Union of California
American Friends Service Committee
Asian Law Caucus
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Coalition for Youth
California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement
California Psychiatric Association
California Psychological Association
California State Conference of the NAACP
California Youth Empowerment Network
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice
Children's Rights Project at Public Counsel
CSU Northridge President, Dianne F. Harrison
Drug Policy Alliance
Equality California
Flawless Foundation
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Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Justice Fellowship
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Los Angeles Community Action Network
Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
Massachusetts General Hospital, Think: Kids
Mental Health America of California
National Association of Social Workers
National Juvenile Justice Network
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
W. Haywood Burns Institute
Women's Foundation
Youth Law Center
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/23/13)
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
Chief Probation Officers of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
Solitary confinement is a harsh measure, widely condemned
as torture, but used rampantly in the state and local
juvenile justice systems. Its use is contrary to
rehabilitation, which is the purpose of the juvenile
justice system.
Nationally, over half of the youth who committed suicide
while in a correctional facility were in solitary
confinement at the time and 62% had a history of being
placed in solitary confinement. Research also shows that
individuals who were forced into solitary confinement had
much higher rates of recidivism as well as developing
psychopathologies.
The use of solitary confinement of a child is wrong and
should be used only in the most extreme situations. The
studies are clear - holding juveniles in solitary increases
recidivism rates, exacerbates existing mental illness, and
makes youth more likely to attempt suicide. Solitary
confinement does nothing to help rehabilitate and thus SB
61 is necessary to limit the cruel practice.
California Code of Regulations Title 15, Section 1354
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states that the facility administrator shall develop
written policies and procedures concerning the need to
segregate minors. Minors who are segregated shall not be
denied normal privileges available at the facility, except
when necessary to accomplish the objectives of segregation.
Written procedures shall be developed which provide a
review of all minors to determine whether it is appropriate
for them to remain in segregation and for direct visual
observation.
However, these regulations fail to adequately protect youth
from excessive isolation. Particularly, youth with mental
health needs, mental disabilities, and/or LGBTQ youth are
at increased risk of isolation in juvenile facilities. In
addition, studies demonstrate that social interaction is
particularly helpful for the rehabilitation of females.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Chief Probation Officers of
California state:
We acknowledge the author's intent to ensure that juveniles
are safely and appropriately housed in detention
facilities. However, the Corrections Standards Authority
(CSA), now the Board of State and Community Corrections
(BSCC), already has regulations on juvenile solitary
confinement contained in Titles 15 and 24. It is
unnecessary at this to incur additional costs of rewriting
and training on standards that have already been put in
place. Current state regulations, as well as local
policies and procedures, authorize the manager or designee
to make the determination of who should be removed from the
general program as a result of safety and security issues.
Under SB 61, separating youth becomes the decision of
mental health staff, regardless of the decision and
determination made by custody staff. Further, the
definition of solitary confinement would essentially apply
to every juvenile within a facility based on its broad
application to this population.
JG:ej 5/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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