BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1010
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 1010 (Mitchell)
          As Amended  June 11, 2014
          Majority vote

           SENATE VOTE  :21-12  
          
           PUBLIC SAFETY       5-1         APPROPRIATIONS      12-3        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Ammiano, Jones-Sawyer,    |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra,         |
          |     |Quirk, Skinner, Stone     |     |Bradford, Campos,         |
          |     |                          |     |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez,  |
          |     |                          |     |Holden, Pan, Quirk,       |
          |     |                          |     |Ridley-Thomas, Lowenthal  |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Melendez                  |Nays:|Bigelow, Jones, Linder    |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           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 five 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 five grams of cocaine base.

          4)Makes 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. 









                                                                  SB 1010
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           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Provides penalties for the following conduct involving  
            controlled substances:  possession, possession for sale or  
            distribution, sale or distribution, and, manufacturing.  

           2)Classifies controlled substances in five schedules, with  
            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:  

              a)   Heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (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)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 (Penal Code Section  
               1170(h)) of 16 months, two years or three years.  

             b)   Possession for sale of cocaine:  felony jail term of  
               two, three or four years.  

              c)   Possession of cocaine base for sale - felony jail term  
               of three, four or five years.  

             d)   Sale or distribution of cocaine or cocaine base:  felony  
               jail term of three, four or five years.  









                                                                 SB 1010
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              e)   Transportation for sale across noncontiguous counties of  
               cocaine or cocaine base:  felony jail term of three, six or  
               nine years.  

           4)Provides for seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle, boat or  
            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 half an ounce) or more and where the amount of  
            cocaine weighed 28.5 grams (one ounce).  

           5)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 five 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.  

          FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee:

          1)Significant ongoing General Fund savings, potentially up to  
            $4.5 million, based on a six-month difference in time served  
            in state prison for 160 persons convicted of possession for  
            sale of cocaine base with a specified prior offense (the  
            average number of commitments over the past two years),  
            assuming full per capita prison costs. 

          2)Significant ongoing local, non-reimbursable incarceration  
            savings, potentially in the range of $6.5 million, based on  
            the 1,200 persons committed to state prison for possession for  
            sale of cocaine base in 2010 and 2011, prior to realignment,  
            and the 320 persons committed to state prison  
            post-realignment, in 2012 and 2013, assuming a per capita cost  
            of $30,000.

          3)Incarceration savings would be offset to an unknown degree by  
            increased non-reimbursable probation costs, as a result of  
            authorizing probation for possession for sale of cocaine base  
            at the same volume threshold as cocaine powder.  For order of  
            magnitude purposes, every 100 additional probation cases would  








                                                                  SB 1010
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            offset incarceration savings by about $500,000.

          4)Unknown, likely minor, decrease in state and local asset  
            forfeiture revenue to the extent increasing the volume  
            threshold for forfeiture reduces state and local asset  
            forfeitures.  For order of magnitude purposes, state and local  
            law enforcement share about $25 million per year in asset  
            forfeitures, with a greater amount, in the range of $35  
            million annually, shared with the state through federal asset  
            forfeiture. 

           COMMENTS  :  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  
          cocaine offenses, despite comparable rates of usage and sales  
          across racial and ethnic groups."
           
           Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion  
          of this bill.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)  
          319-3744 










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