BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 260
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 260 (Hancock)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :27-11
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, |
| | | |Holden, Pan, Quirk, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Melendez, Waldron |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| | | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a parole process for persons sentenced to
prison for crimes committed before attaining 18 years of age.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes a youth offender parole hearing which is a hearing
by the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) for the purpose of
reviewing the parole suitability of any prisoner who was under
18 years of age at the time of his or her controlling offense.
2)Defines "incarceration" as detention in a city or county jail,
a local juvenile facility, a mental health facility, a
Division of Juvenile Justice facility, or a California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facility.
3)Defines "controlling offense" as the offense or enhancement
for which any sentencing court imposed the longest term of
imprisonment.
4)Provides the following parole mechanism for a person who was
convicted of a controlling offense that was committed before
the person had attained 18 years of age:
a) If the sentence is a determinate sentence, the person
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shall be eligible for release on parole at a youth offender
parole hearing during his or her 15th year of
incarceration, unless previously released pursuant to other
statutory provisions;
b) If the sentence is a life term of less than 25 years to
life, the person shall be eligible for release on parole
during his or her 20th year of incarceration at a youth
offender parole hearing, unless previously released or
entitled to an earlier parole consideration hearing
pursuant to other statutory provisions; or
c) If the sentence is a life term of 25 years to life, the
person shall be eligible for release on parole during his
or her 25th year of incarceration at a youth offender
parole hearing, unless previously released or entitled to
an earlier parole consideration hearing pursuant to other
statutory provisions.
5)Specifies that the youth offender parole hearing to consider
release shall provide for a meaningful opportunity to obtain
release.
6)Mandates BPH to review and, as necessary, revise existing
regulations and adopt new regulations regarding determinations
of suitability made pursuant to the provisions of this bill,
and other related topics, consistent with relevant case law,
in order to provide that meaningful opportunity for release.
7)Provides in assessing growth and maturity, if BPH uses
psychological evaluations and risk assessment instruments,
those evaluations and instruments shall be administered by
licensed psychologists employed by BPH and shall take into
consideration the diminished culpability of juveniles as
compared to that of adults, the hallmark features of youth,
and any subsequent growth and increased maturity of the
individual.
8)States that family members, friends, school personnel, faith
leaders, and representatives from community-based
organizations with knowledge about the individual before the
crime or his or her growth and maturity since the time of the
crime may submit statements for review by BPH.
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9)Clarifies that nothing in this bill is intended to alter the
rights of victims at parole hearings.
10)States, if parole is not granted, BPH shall set the time for
the subsequent youth offender parole hearing in accordance
with existing provisions of law, and in exercising its
discretion BPH shall consider the diminished culpability of
juveniles as compared to adults, the hallmark features of
youth, and any subsequent growth and increased maturity of the
prisoner in accordance with relevant case law.
11)Excludes persons sentenced under the "Three Strikes" law, the
"One-Strike" sex law, or sentenced to life in prison without
the possibility of parole.
12)Makes ineligible a person to whom the provisions of this bill
would otherwise apply, but who, subsequent to attaining 18
years of age, commits an additional crime for which the person
is sentenced to life in prison or commits murder, as
specified.
13)Sets a deadline of July 1, 2015, for BPH to complete all
youth offender parole hearings for individuals who become
entitled to have their parole suitability considered at a
youth offender parole hearing on the effective date of this
bill.
14)Requires BPH in reviewing a prisoner's parole suitability at
a youth offender parole hearing, to give great weight to the
diminished culpability of juveniles as compared to adults, the
hallmark features of youth, and any subsequent growth and
increased maturity of the prisoner in accordance with relevant
case law.
15)Requires BPH to meet with each inmate during the sixth year
prior to the inmate's minimum eligible parole release date for
the purposes of reviewing and documenting the inmate's
activities and conduct pertinent to both parole eligibility
and to the granting or withholding of post-conviction credit.
16)Specifies during this consultation, BPH shall provide the
inmate information about the parole hearing process, legal
factors relevant to his or her suitability or unsuitability
for parole, and individualized recommendations for the inmate
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regarding his or her work assignments, rehabilitative
programs, and institutional behavior.
17)Requires BPH, within 30 days following the consultation, to
issue its positive and negative findings and recommendations
to the inmate in writing.
18)States notwithstanding provisions of law requiring specified
minimum terms to be served on life sentences before being
paroled, a prisoner found suitable for parole pursuant to a
youth offender parole hearing shall be paroled regardless of
the manner in which BPH sets release dates.
19)Makes various legislative declarations and findings related
to youthful offenders.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that minors age 14 and older can be subject to
prosecution in adult criminal court depending upon their
alleged 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;
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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 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 requirements for filing and granting such a
petition.
5)Requires 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. (Penal Code Section 3041.5.)
6)Requires BPH to meet with each inmate, except as specified,
during his or her third year of incarceration for the purpose
of reviewing his or her file, making recommendations, and
documenting activities and conduct pertinent to granting or
withholding post-conviction credit.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
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Committee:
1)Significant one-time General Fund (GF) costs to the BPH,
likely in excess of $2 million by July 1, 2015, to hold
additional parole hearings. As this bill requires BPH to hold
a hearing by July 1, 2015 for every determinately-sentenced
offender who has served more than 15 years for an offense
committed before the offender turned 18, and for
indeterminately-sentenced inmates who have served 15, 20 or 25
years, as specified, the cost of an additional 1,000 hearings
would be in the range of $2.5 million, assuming a BPH estimate
of $2,500 per hearing.
Annual hearing costs thereafter would likely be in the hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
2)One time GF costs in the range of $150,000 to review and
re-write regulations, pursuant to specified litigation.
3)The above costs would be offset to an unknown degree by state
trial court GF savings as a result of an accompanying
reduction in writs of Habeas Corpus, by which inmates
challenge convictions and/or sentences.
4)Potentially significant annual out-year GF savings to the
extent inmates are actually paroled earlier following the
required hearings. For example, for every 10 inmates per year
who are actually paroled as a result of this bill and end up
serving 20 rather than 30 years, the annual net savings will
exceed $1.5 million in 10 years (assuming a marginal per
capita savings of $25,000 per inmate, and a per capita parole
cost of $10,000).
There are about 5,700 inmates serving time in CDCR facilities
who were sentenced when they were under the age of 18. Of
these:
1)1,469 will have served at least 15 years by January 1, 2014.
2)729 will have served at least 20 years by January 1, 2014.
3)335 will have served at least 25 years by January 1, 2014.
4)70 are 2nd Strikers.
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5)2 are 3rd Strikers.
6)286 are serving life without the possibility of parole.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Piecemeal changes to
California law since the 1990s have removed many safeguards and
points for review that once existed for youth charged with
crimes. Currently, over 6,500 young people in California
prisons were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime and
prosecuted as adults - many are transferred to the adult
criminal justice system without careful consideration of their
amenability to rehabilitate and demonstrate remorse. The
current system provides no viable mechanism for reviewing a case
after a young person has served a substantial period of
incarceration and can show maturity and improvement.
"Existing sentencing laws do not distinguish youth from adults,
however, recent court decisions are moving in this direction.
The US Supreme Court recently held unconstitutional mandatory
life without parole sentences for people under the age of 18,
and required courts to consider the youthfulness of defendants
facing that sentence (Miller v. Alabama (2012). The California
Supreme Court recently ruled in People v. Caballero (2012) that
a sentence exceeding the life expectancy of a juvenile is the
equivalent of life without parole, and unconstitutional in
nonhomicide cases. Specifically, the California Supreme Court
called for legislative action to establish a review process for
cases with lengthy sentences.
"Recent scientific evidence on adolescent development and
neuroscience show that certain areas of the brain, particularly
those that affect judgment and decision-making, do not fully
develop until the early 20's. The US Supreme Court stated in
its 2005 Roper v. Simmons decision, '[t]he reality that
juveniles still struggle to define their identity means it is
less supportable to conclude that even a heinous crime committed
by a juvenile is evidence of irretrievably depraved character.'
Moreover, the fact that young adults are still developing means
that they are uniquely situated for personal growth and
rehabilitation.
"In the wake of the US and the California Supreme Courts'
decisions and consistent with neuroscientific research, SB 260
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establishes a comprehensive Youth Opportunity Review process to
evaluate cases involving extreme sentences for juveniles. SB
260 holds young people responsible for the crimes they committed
and creates a parole mechanism in which they must demonstrate
remorse and rehabilitation to merit any possible release on
parole as determined by the Board of Parole Hearings."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0002187