SB 466, as introduced, DeSaulnier. California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy.
Existing law requires the California Law Revision Commission to study, and limits the commission to studying, topics approved by resolution of the Legislature. Existing law requires the commission to examine statutes to discover defects and recommend reforms.
This bill would establish the California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy. This bill would request the University of California to house the institute. This bill would require the institute to conduct a cost-benefit, evidence-based analysis for each pending legislative measure relating to criminal justice and supply the analysis to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees in the Legislature as soon as practicable and not later than 60 days after receiving a request to produce an analysis from a committee.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 11480) is
2added to Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
The Legislature finds and declares all the following:
5(a) For the past 30 years, California’s criminal justice system
6has experienced ongoing problems, including dangerous prison
7overcrowding. In 2006, California’s prison population reached
8173,000 inmates, at 202 percent of design capacity. State spending
9on corrections increased by 31 percent in the last decade resulting
10in reduced funding for higher education, health and social services,
11and the courts and local law enforcement.
12(b) Parole reform in 2009 and the 2011 Public Safety
13Realignment significantly reduced prison populations for the first
14time in decades. Nonetheless, prisons are still over capacity, jail
15expansion is increasing across the
state, and too few justice system
16entities have embraced evidenced-based practices to increase safety
17and reduce criminal justice costs.
18(c) California needs an independent data-driven institution to
19promulgate best practices in criminal justice and guide the state
20in a transition from a problem-plagued justice system to
21evidence-based practices. A dedicated, independent institute can
22carry out nonpartisan practical research to address the continuing
23issues in the criminal justice system and delineate models for
24effective public safety and justice systems.
25(d) Instituting best practices in the criminal justice system will
26ultimately save the state money through reduced litigation costs.
27A 2010 report by the Inspector General of California found that
28the state paid more than $139 million between 1997 and 2010 in
29litigation costs for 12 major class action cases associated with the
30
treatment of inmates and wards in the state. By addressing these
31issues in a comprehensive manner, future lawsuits could be
32avoided, and the costs of the existing on-going litigation could be
33mitigated.
There is hereby established in the state government
35the California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy.
36The purposes of the institute shall include, but need not be
37limited to, the facilitation of a comprehensive and coordinated
38approach to delineate effective public safety and justice systems
39through the use of evidence-based practices, the promulgation of
40cost benefit analyses of criminal justice legislation to promulgate
P3 1a statewide plan for public safety, and the development of strategies
2based on data and science that reduce recidivism and hold offenders
3accountable.
The Legislature requests that the University of
5California house the California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy
6to facilitate independent and nonpartisan research on issues related
7to criminal justice and public safety by experts in the University
8of California system and beyond.
(a) The California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy
10shall conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each pending legislative
11measure relating to criminal justice.
12(b) The California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy shall
13include in an analysis a determination of the potential effectiveness
14of the policy based on evidence in the field of criminal justice.
15(c) The California Institute for Criminal Justice Policy shall
16provide that analysis to the appropriate legislative policy and fiscal
17committee as soon as practicable and not later than 60 days after
18receiving a request to produce an analysis from a committee.
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