BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1010 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 17, 2014 Counsel: Gabriel Caswell ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Tom Ammiano, Chair SB 1010 () - As Amended: March 17, 2014 SUMMARY : Provides that the penalty for possession for sale of cocaine base shall be the same as that for possession for sale of cocaine hydrochloride powder cocaine. 1)Changes the penalty for possession for sale of cocaine base to two, three, or four years of incarceration. 2)Specifies that probation can only be granted to a person convicted of possession for sale of 28.5 grams or more of cocaine base, or 57 grams or more of a substance containing at least 5 grams of cocaine base, if the court finds unusual circumstances demonstrating that probation promotes justice. 3)Authorizes seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle, boat or airplane used as an instrumentality of drug commerce involving cocaine base weighing 28.5 grams or more, or 57 grams or more of a substance containing at least 5 grams of cocaine base. 4)Makess legislative findings that powder cocaine and cocaine base are two different forms of the same drug, each producing the same effects when ingested and that imposing higher penalties and greater forfeitures on persons convicted of crimes involving cocaine base is unjustified. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides penalties for the following conduct involving controlled substances: possession, possession for sale or distribution, sale or distribution, and, manufacturing. (Health & Saf. Code §§ 11350-11401.) 2)Classifies controlled substances in five schedules, with SB 1010 Page 2 generally lesser restrictions and penalties from Schedule I through V. Schedule I controlled substances are deemed to have no accepted medical use and cannot be prescribed. Examples of drugs in the California schedules drugs follow: (Health & Saf. Code §§ 11054-11058.) a) Heroin, LSD, cocaine base and marijuana are Schedule I drugs. b) Oxcycodone, cocaine, methamphetamine, and codeine are Schedule II drugs. c) Barbituates (tranquilizers, anabolic steroids and specified narcotic, pain medications are Schedule III drugs. d) Benzodiazepines (Valium) and phentermine (diet drug) are Schedule IV drugs. e) Specified narcotic pain medications with active non-narcotic active ingredients are Schedule V drugs. 3)Includes in federal law, the following explanations: (21 U.S.C., Section 812 (b)) | a) Schedule I controlled substances have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, have a high potential for abuse, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. Schedule I drugs include but are not limited to cannabis, heroin, GHB, and ecstasy. b) Schedule II controlled substances have a currently accepted medical use in treatment, a high potential for abuse, which may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Schedule II drugs include but are not limited to Cocaine, Ritalin, oxycodone, morphine, and amphetamines. c) Schedule III controlled substances have a currently accepted medical use in treatment, a potential for abuse that is less than that for Schedule I and II drugs, and abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. Schedule III drugs include SB 1010 Page 3 but are not limited to anabolic steroids, prescriptions that combine codeine or hydrocodone with aspirin or another non-narcotic ingredient, ketamine, and testosterone. d) Schedule IV drugs have a currently accepted medical use in treatment, have a low potential for abuse relative to the substances in Schedule III, and abuse may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence. Schedule IV drugs include but are not limited to Xanax, Librium, Valium, and Phenobarbital. e) Schedule V drugs have a low potential for abuse, have a currently accepted medical use in treatment, and abuse of the drug may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence. Schedule V drugs include but are not limited to narcotic drugs containing active medicinal qualities other than those possessed by narcotic drugs alone, such as cough suppressants containing small amounts of codeine. 4)Provides the following penalties for conduct involving cocaine and cocaine base: a) Simple possession (for personal use) of cocaine or cocaine base: Felony, with a jail term (Pen. Code § 1170, subd. (h)) of 16 months, 2 years or 3 years. (Health & Saf. Code § 11350.) b) Possession for sale of cocaine: Felony jail term of 2, 3 or 4 years. (Health & Saf. Code § 11351.) c) Possession of cocaine base for sale - Felony jail term of 3, 4 or 5 years. (Health & Saf. Code § 11351.5.) d) Sale or distribution of cocaine or cocaine base: Felony jail term of 3, 4 or 5 years. (Health & Saf. Code § 11352.) e) Transportation for sale across noncontiguous counties of cocaine or cocaine base: Felony jail term of 3, 6 or 9 years. (Health & Saf. Code § 11352(b).) 5)Provides for seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle, boat or SB 1010 Page 4 airplane used as an instrumentality of drug commerce. Specified provisions are triggered where the amount of cocaine base involved in the offense weighed 14.25 grams (approximately ounce) or more and where the amount of cocaine weighed 28.5 grams (1 ounce). (Health & Saf. Code § 11470, subd. (e.).) 6)Provides that the court can only grant probation to a person convicted of certain crimes if unusual circumstances exist establishing that a grant of probation promotes justice. The restriction applies to any case involving 14.25 grams or more of cocaine base, or 57 grams or more of a substance containing at least 5 grams of cocaine base. By comparison, the restriction applies to any case involving 28.5 grams or more of cocaine, or 57 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine. (Pen. Code § 1203.073, subds. (b)(1) and (5).) FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "SB 1010 will correct the groundless disparity in sentencing, probation and asset forfeiture guidelines for possession of crack cocaine for sale versus the same crime involving powder cocaine that has resulted in a pattern of racial discrimination in sentencing and incarceration in California. "Crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug. Scientific reports, including a major study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, demonstrate that they have essentially identical effects on the human body. Powder cocaine can be injected or snorted. Crack cocaine can be injected or smoked, and is a product derived when cocaine powder is processed with an alkali, typically common baking soda. Gram for gram, there is less active drug in crack cocaine than in powder cocaine. "Whatever their intended goal, disparate sentencing guidelines for two forms of the same drug has resulted in a pattern of institutional racism, with longer prison sentences given to people of color who are more likely than whites to be arrested and incarcerated for cocaine base offenses compared to powder SB 1010 Page 5 cocaine offenses, despite comparable rates of usage and sales across racial and ethnic groups. 2)Background on the Disparity between Cocaine Base and Powder Cocaine : Len Bias was an extraordinarily gifted college basketball player at the University of Maryland in the mid-1980s. Just a few days after being selected by the Boston Celtics as the second player in the 1986 NBA draft, Bias died after suffering a seizure when ingesting cocaine with friends and teammates in a dorm room. Media reports initially stated or speculated, and then repeated as though confirmed, that Bias had used crack cocaine or freebased cocaine and that he had never used cocaine before. The investigation of the incident and prosecutions related to the incident indicate that Bias had used cocaine before - perhaps introducing the drug to friends - and that cocaine had been found in his leased car. His companions testified that after Bias snorted the last of numerous lines of powder cocaine, he stood up to go the bathroom, stumbled back on his bed and had a seizure. Len Bias' death sparked a nation-wide outcry about the prevalence and dangers of cocaine use, especially the use of crack cocaine in African-American communities. Congress very quickly passed the Ant-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The law was a bi-partisan measure with the full support of Speaker Tip O'Neil, a Bostonian. The law included very long mandatory minimum sentences. The penalties for crack cocaine or cocaine base were triggered when a case involved much less of the drug (1/100th) than powdered cocaine (cocaine hydrochloride). Five grams of cocaine base triggered the penalties compared to 500 grams of cocaine hydrochloride. In 1986, imprisonment of African Americans for cocaine exceeded Caucasians for the first time. Crack was seen as a cheaper and much more dangerous substance than powder cocaine. California separately defined, scheduled and punished powder cocaine in contrast with other forms of cocaine in 1986. In 1987, cocaine base was specifically referenced in Schedule I and possession for sale of cocaine base was placed in Health and Safety Code Section 11351.5, with higher penalties than for cocaine hydrochloride. SB 1010 Page 6 3)Possession for Sale vs. Simple Possession of Cocaine Base and Powder Cocaine : Under California law, whether a drug was possessed for purposes of sale is determined by all the factors of the charged incident, not by a specified weight or volume of the drug possessed. Typically, a law enforcement witness trained in drug cases explains to the jury the facts on which the prosecution is relying on to prove that the defendant possessed a drug for sale. The weight or volume of the drug is typically one of the many factors noted by the witness. Law enforcement witnesses usually refer to "indicia" of sale, such as scales for weighing material, ledgers of payments, the manner in which the drug is packaged and the amount and denominations of currency the defendant was carrying. Cocaine base is essentially made by mixing powder cocaine and baking soda to form a solid, brittle, rock-like substance. A defendant could be arrested for possession for sale of cocaine base because he carried a number of individual "rocks" in small plastic baggies, wrote names and dollar amounts on a piece of paper and carried a number of bills in the denomination for which cocaine base "rocks" of that size typically sell. Cocaine base is often sold on street corners in open view. Law enforcement officers can readily see such activity. It may be more difficult to establish a case of possession for sale of powdered cocaine - cocaine hydrochloride - than cocaine base. Powder cocaine does not naturally come in a form for ready retail sales. Powder cocaine, unlike cocaine base, would not typically be sold as a single dose. Cocaine hydrochloride is often sold in 1-gram "bindles" from which the user can obtain multiple doses. Powder cocaine is thus not easily sold hand-to-hand on the street. 4)History of Discriminatory Impact of Current Law : There is a long and well documented history of a discriminatory impact in the current California law related to cocaine base vs. powder cocaine. According to a 2005 statement by the Drug Policy Alliance, "California is one of only 13 states that make a distinction in sentencing between powder cocaine and cocaine base ("crack"), which results in a pattern of institutionalized racism." According to Progressive SB 1010 Page 7 Christians Uniting, "In 2003, 70 men and women of Caucasian descent were convicted for possessing rock cocaine in California. In that same year, 1,125 African Americans were convicted for the same crime." According to a 2005 statement by the California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, "The primary difference between these two drugs is the pattern of institutionalized racism inherent in the disparate sentencing guidelines that impose longer prison sentences to persons charged with offenses involving the possession for sale of crack cocaine, who are 66.5% African-American and poor, and those imposed on persons involved with powder cocaine, who tend to be in the majority white and upper income." In several reports to Congress, the United States Sentencing Commission (Commission) has supported eliminating the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine on the federal level. In 1997, the Commission's report stated, "If the impact of the law is discriminatory, the problem is no less real regardless of the intent. This problem is particularly acute because the disparate impact arises from a penalty structure for two different forms of the same substance. It is a little like punishing vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol more severely if the defendant had become intoxicated by ingesting cheap wine rather than scotch whiskey. That suggestion is absurd on its face and ought to be no less so when the abused substance is cocaine rather than alcohol." The Commission report further stated, "Bad laws weaken respect of good laws. Consequences follow. Sooner or later, all those people who feel alienated as a result of receiving what they believe to be unfair treatment and unjust sentences will be released from jail. Does this country really expect them to become productive members of society or might we anticipate some retributive behavior?" According to an article in the San Francisco Examiner, published March 23, 2007, California's sentencing statistics overall reveal a clear pattern of racially discriminatory impact. The article quotes Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public SB 1010 Page 8 Defender, on the racially discriminatory impact of sentencing overall, "Numerous studies, both national and statewide, have shown that African-Americans and Latinos are more likely to receive maximum sentences than their white counterparts. Whites sentenced to drug offenses serve an average of 27 months while blacks serve an average of 46 months. Latino youth are 13 times more likely to be sentenced to a juvenile state facility than whites, where they serve up to the maximum term." 5)Ethnicity of Incarcerated Inmates for Possession for Sale of Cocaine Base and Powder Cocaine : The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has produced in 2013 data on the number of inmates from fiscal year 2005-2006 through 2009-2010 imprisoned for possession for sale of powder cocaine and those imprisoned for possession for sale of cocaine base. The data was disaggregated by ethnicity and sex of the inmates. The data is set out without reflecting the sex of the inmate: ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Race/Ethnic|African |Caucasian |Latino |Other | |ity |American | | | | |-----------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------| |Cocaine |2061 |829 |3285 |181 | |-----------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------| |Cocaine |4152 |96 |972 |142 | |Base | | | | | |-----------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------| |Total |6213 |925 |4257 |323 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- African Americans were imprisoned for possession of cocaine base for sale at a rate 43.25 times that for Caucasians. African Americans were imprisoned for possession of cocaine hydrochloride for sale at a rate 2.5 times that for Caucasians. African Americans were imprisoned for possession of cocaine base for sale at a rate 4.3 times that for Latinos. Latinos were imprisoned for possession of cocaine hydrochloride for sale at a rate 1.6 times that for African Americans. 6)Drug Use and Commerce by College Students and Adolescents, SB 1010 Page 9 Analyzed by Race and Ethnicity; Racial Disparities in Juvenile Drug Prosecutions : In 2007, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University published a study of drug and alcohol use by college students. The study showed substantially higher use of drugs by whites than African Americans. For example, white students were twice as likely to illicitly use prescription drugs, marijuana and MDMA (ecstasy) than African American students. Students at traditionally Black colleges had particularly low drug use rates. The 2011 National Institute of Health (NIH) study of adolescent drug use found that "African American students have substantially lower rates of use of most ? drugs than do whites at all three grade levels [10th-12th grades]." (Monitoring the Future, National Results on Adolescent Drug Use, Johnston, et al., NIH, 2012, p. 45.) Despite the fact that white adolescents use drugs at much higher rates than minority adolescents, the United States Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (OJJDP) found that in 2006 "juvenile arrests disproportionately involved minorities." African American minors were arrested for drug offenses (30% of all drug arrests) at a rate approximately 3 times their proportion of the population. (Juv. Justice Bulletin, Nov. 2008, U.S. DOJ, OJJDP, p. 10.) Another study published in the American Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in March of 2010 analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. According to a summary published by NIH, the study found that white and African American youth engaged in drug commerce at equivalent rates. However, white youth used and sold a wide range of drugs. African American youth were more likely to use and sell marijuana. White youth who were engaged in drug commerce were also likely to be "entrenched" users of drugs such as cocaine. The most recent drug trend statistics from the National Institute on Drug Abuse - last revised in December, 2012 - found that non-marijuana drug use has stayed relatively steady in recent years. Cocaine use, however, is down: Use of most drugs other than marijuana has not changed appreciably over SB 1010 Page 10 the past decade or has declined. In 2011, 6.1 million Americans aged 12 or older (or 2.4 percent) had used psycho-therapeutic prescription drugs nonmedicaly (without a prescription or in a manner or for a purpose not prescribed) in the past month-a decrease from 2010. And 972,000 Americans (0.4 percent) had used hallucinogens (a category that includes Ecstasy and LSD) in the past month-a decline from 2010. Cocaine use has gone down in the last few years; from 2006 to 2011, the number of current users aged 12 or older dropped from 2.4 million to 1.4 million. Methamphetamine use has also dropped, from 731,000 current users in 2006 to 439,000 in 2011. 7)Rates of Drug Use by Race and Ethnicity : Blacks, whites and Latinos use drugs at relatively similar rates, with Latinos' usage the lowest of the three. Asians use illicit drugs at a lower rate than other ethnic or racial groups. The data in the following chart is from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health published by United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), including the most recent available data from 2011: ------------------------------------------------------------------- |YEAR |Rate of Drug |Rate of Drug |Rate of Drug | | |Use - Whites |Use - Blacks |Use - Latinos | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2002 |8.5% |9.7 % |7.2% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2003 |8.3% |8.7% |8.0% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2004 |8.1% |8.7% |7.2% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2005 |8.1% |9.7% |7.6% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2006 |8.5% |9.8% |6.9% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2007 |8.2% |9.5% |6.6% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2008 |8.2% |10.1% |6.2% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2009 |8.8% |9.6% |7.9% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| SB 1010 Page 11 |2010 |9.1% |10.7% |8.1% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2011 |8.7% |10% |8.4% | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- 8)Incarceration Rates in Drug Offenses by Race and Ethnicity (White, Black and Latino Defendants) : According to a 1999-2005 Sentencing Project Study, African Americans are imprisoned for felony drug crimes at a rate five times greater than their proportion of the population. Whites are incarcerated for felony drug crimes at rate that is one third or one quarter their proportion of the population: ------------------------------------------------------------------- |YEAR |Whites - |Blacks - |Latinos - | | |Percentage of |Percentage of |Percentage of | | |State Prison |State Prison |State Prison | | |Drug Crime |Drug Crime |Drug Crime | | |Populations |Population |Population | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |1999 |20.2% |57.6% |20.7% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2000 |23.2% |57.9% |17.2% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2001 |23.3% |56.8% |19.1% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2002 |24.3% |47.5% |23.3% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2003 |25.9% |53.0% |20.0% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2004 |26.4% |45.1% |20.8% | |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------| |2005 |28.5% |44.8% |20.2% | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------- These data must be viewed in light of the proportion of whites, blacks and Latinos in the population. According to the United States Census: ----------------------------------------------------------------- SB 1010 Page 12 |All whites, |Non-Hispanic |African |Latino/Hispanic | |including |whites |Americans | | |Hispanics of | | | | |European | | | | |origin | | | | |--------------+----------------+---------------+-----------------| |72.4% |63.7% |12.6% |16.3% | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- In 2000, Human Rights Watch researchers found that through 1996 African Americans were 13 times more times more likely to be imprisoned for drug crimes than whites. The Sentencing Project study indicates that that disparity has been reduced somewhat in recent years, although the disparity is still striking. These disproportionate prosecution rates exist despite the fact that African Americans and whites use drugs in roughly equivalent proportions. Other studies have reported that white youth sell drugs at a much higher rate than African American youth. 9)Drug Control through Criminal Penalties Generally : This bill continues a decades-long history of expanded criminal penalties for commerce in drugs of intoxication. Numerous studies have concluded that criminal penalties have not substantially limited drug abuse, but prohibition has generated substantial profits for illicit trade. President Nixon declared a war on drugs in 1971. California adopted the federal controlled schedules and set penalties based on the federal schedules in 1972. Nixon established the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973. President Reagan signed legislation establishing mandatory minimums for drug crimes in 1986. George H.W. Bush appointed the first drug czar in 1989. Inherent in these policies is a belief that relatively severe penalties for drug crimes, including drug possession, deter people from using or selling drugs. (Timeline, America's War on Drugs, NPR, April 2, 2007; Health & Saf. Code §§ 11054-11058; 11350-11383.7, 11351.5.) In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a report, "War on Drugs," examining global drug policy over the past half-century. The Commission is comprised of current and SB 1010 Page 13 former heads of state, public officials, and experts. The report states: "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed. Vast expenditures on criminalization and repressive measures directed at producers, traffickers and consumers of illegal drugs have clearly failed to effectively curtail supply or consumption. Apparent victories in eliminating one source or trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by the emergence of other sources and traffickers. Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdose fatalities and other harmful consequences of drug use. Government expenditures on futile supply reduction strategies and incarceration displace more cost-effective and evidence-based investments in demand and harm reduction." (Global Commission on Drug Policy, War on Drugs (June 2011), italics added.) 10)Argument in Support : According to the American Civil Liberties Union , "SB 1010 will correct the groundless disparity in sentencing, probation and asset forfeiture guidelines for possession for sale of crack cocaine versus the same crime involving powder cocaine that has resulted in a pattern of racial discrimination in sentencing and incarceration in California. Moreover, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that, by equalizing the penalty, the state and local governments would save millions of dollars annually. "Crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug. Crack cocaine is a product derived when cocaine powder is processed with an alkali, typically common baking soda. Gram for gram, there is less active drug in crack cocaine than in powder cocaine. Whatever their intentional goal, disparate sentencing guidelines for two forms of the same drug has resulted in a pattern of institutional racism, despite comparable rates of usage and sales across racial and ethnic SB 1010 Page 14 groups. "According to the CDCR, there are about 1,000 people in state prison for possession for sale of crack cocaine; 98% of people entering a California prison for this offense are people of color." 11)Argument in Opposition: According to the California Narcotics Officers' Association , "Senate Bill 1010 will lower penalties for trafficking in cocaine base to the level that currently exists for powder cocaine trafficking. Although we agree with you that there is no rational basis for having different levels of punishment for trafficking in the same product, we must respectfully disagree with the remedy that is embodied in Senate Bill 1010: the reduction of penalties for drug traffickers dealing in cocaine base. "We believe that the preferable approach is to raise the penalties for powder cocaine trafficking to the same level that currently exists for trafficking in cocaine base. Candidly, the damages done to individuals, families and neighborhoods by virtue of cocaine trafficking are severe. Although we support equalizing the penalty structures, we do not believe that drug traffickers - who visit real harm on communities - should be the beneficiaries of legislation that equalizes the penalty structure." 12)Prior Legislation : a) AB 337 (Dymally), of the 2007-2008 Legislative Session, equalized the penalties for violations of the laws related to the possession or purchasing for sale of powder and crack cocaine to eliminate the racially disparate impact of existing law. AB 337 was never heard on the Assembly floor. b) AB 125 (Dymally), of the 2005-06 Legislative Session, equalized the penalties for violations of the laws related to the possession or purchasing for sale of powder and crack cocaine to eliminate the racially disparate impact of existing law. AB 337 was never heard on the Assembly floor. SB 1010 Page 15 REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support A New PATH Alpha Project American Civil Liberties Union American Friends Service Committee Asian American Drug Abuse Program, Inc. California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives California Communities United Institute California NAACP California Public Defenders Association California Society of Addiction Medicine Californians for Safety and Justice Californians United for a Responsible Budget Children's Defense Fund of California Center for Health Justice Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice Center on Policy Initiatives Centro Legal de la Raza Community Coalition Courage Campaign Fair Chance Project Friends Committee on Legislation of California Greenlining Institute HealthRIGHT360 Hermandad Mexicana Humanitarian Foundation Homeboy Industries Homeless Health Care Los Angeles Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission Islamic Shura Council Justice Not Jails Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Legal Services for Prisoners with Children Los Angeles Community Action Network Los Angeles District Attorneys Association Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership Mexican American Political Association National Employment Law Project New Way of Life Project PICO California SB 1010 Page 16 Pillars of the Community Employee Rights Center Presente.org Progressive Christians Uniting Project Inform Prototypes San Diego Organizing Project Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety Watts/Century Latino Organization Women's Foundation of California Tarzana Treatment Centers William C. Velasquez Institute 49 private citizens Opposition California Narcotics Officers' Association California Police Chiefs Association Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744