BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                 UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 1010
          Author:   Mitchell (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/11/14
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE  :  4-2, 4/29/14
          AYES:  Hancock, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
          NOES:  Anderson, Knight
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  De León

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-2, 5/12/14
          AYES:  De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Gaines

           SENATE FLOOR  :  21-12, 5/28/14
          AYES:  Beall, Block, Corbett, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans,  
            Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu,  
            Mitchell, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Wolk
          NOES:  Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,  
            Knight, Morrell, Nielsen, Vidak, Walters, Wyland
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Calderon, Correa, Galgiani, Hueso, Torres,  
            Wright, Yee

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  50-19, 8/14/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Cocaine base: penalties

           SOURCE  :     A New Way of Life
                       American Civil Liberties Union
                       California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
                       California Public Defenders Association
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                       California State Conference of the NAACP
                       Californians for Safety & Justice
                       Drug Policy Alliance
                       Ella Baker Center
                       Friends Committee on Legislation
                       National Council for La Raza
                       William C. Velázquez Institute


           DIGEST  :    This bill reduces the penalty for possession for sale  
          of cocaine base to be the same as that for powder cocaine; and  
          revises the guidelines for probation eligibility for both the  
          possession for sale of powder cocaine and cocaine base, as  
          specified.

           Assembly Amendments  add coauthors and make technical changes.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Includes the following penalties for conduct involving  
             cocaine and cocaine base:

             A.    Simple possession (for personal use) of cocaine or  
                cocaine base is a felony jail term of 16 months, two  
                years or three years.

             B.    Possession for sale of cocaine is a felony jail term  
                of two, three or four years.

             C.    Possession for sale of cocaine base is a felony jail  
                term of three, four or five years.

             D.    Sale or distribution of cocaine or cocaine base is a  
                felony jail term of three, four or five years.

          2. Provides for seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle, boat or  
             airplane used as an instrumentality of drug commerce.   
             Specifies that 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).


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          3. 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.  

          This bill:

          1. Provides that the incarceration penalty for possession for  
             sale or distribution of cocaine base is a felony jail term of  
             two, three or four years - the penalty for possession for  
             sale of powder cocaine.

          2. Provides 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. Includes 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.

           Background  

          The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has  
          produced in 2013 data on the number of inmates from fiscal year  
          2005-06 through 2009-10 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:

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           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Race/Ethnici|African      |Caucasian    |Latino      |Other      |
          |ty          |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. 


           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  Yes


          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:


           Potential future significant cost savings in the low millions  
            of dollars (General Fund) to the Department of Corrections and  
            Rehabilitation assuming shorter prison sentences and/or fewer  
            prison commitments due to expanded probation eligibility  
            provisions for about 150 inmates committed to state prison  
            annually. 


           Potential future significant cost savings in the millions of  
            dollars (Local) to local agencies for reduced county jail  
            terms for several hundred offenders under the reduced  

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            sentencing triad and expanded probation eligibility  
            provisions, offset to a degree by increased costs for a larger  
            felony probation population. The Department of Justice  
            conviction data indicates on average over 750 convictions for  
            possession for sale of cocaine base since 2012.


           Potential increase in court costs (General Fund*) for  
            additional revocation hearings associated with the larger  
            population of felony probationers. 

           Unknown, potential minor loss of state and local revenues from  
            asset forfeiture proceeds of vehicles seized from cocaine base  
            offenses. 
          *Trial Court Trust Fund

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/14/14)

          A New Way of Life (co-source)
          American Civil Liberties Union (co-source)
          California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (co-source)
          California Public Defenders Association (co-source)
          California State Conference of the NAACP (co-source)
          Californians for Safety & Justice (co-source)
          Drug Policy Alliance (co-source)
          Ella Baker Center (co-source)
          Friends Committee on Legislation (co-source)
          National Council for La Raza (co-source)
          William C. Velázquez Institute (co-source)
          Addiction Research and Treatment
          Advancement Project
          Amity Foundation
          Anti-Recidivism Coalition
          Asian American Drug Abuse Program
          Asian Law Caucus
          California Coalition for Women Prisoners
          California Drug Counseling, Inc.
          California Society of Addiction Medicine
          Center for Health Justice
          Center for Living and Learning
          Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
          Center on Policy Initiatives
          Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
          Community Coalition

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          Community Works West
          Courage Campaign
          Employee Rights Center
          healthRIGHT360
          Holman United Methodist Church
          Homeboy Industries
          Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles
          Homies Unidos
          Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission
          Human Rights Watch
          Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
          Justice Not Jails
          Justice Policy Institute
          Latino Voters League
          Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
          Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
          League of United Latin American Citizens
          Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
          Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
          Los Angeles Community Action Network
          Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches
          Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
          Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
          National Association of Social Workers, Women's Council, CA  
          Chapter
          National Employment Law Project
          New PATH
          PICO California
          Pillars of the Community
          Presente.org
          Progressive Christians Uniting
          Project Inform
          Rubicon Programs
          San Diego Black Health Associates, Inc.
          San Diego Organizing Project
          San Fernando Recovery Center
          SHIELDS for Families
          Tarzana Treatment Centers
          The Sentencing Project
          UC Hastings Law Students for Sensible Drug Policy

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/14/14)

          California Narcotics Officers Association

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          California Police Chiefs Association

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author:

             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.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    The California Police Chiefs  
          Association states, that this bill will lower the penalties for  
          trafficking in cocaine base to the level that currently exists  
          for powder cocaine trafficking.

             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.  
           

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  50-19, 8/14/14
          AYES:  Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford,  
            Brown, Buchanan, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley,  
            Dababneh, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Garcia, Gatto,  

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            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Skinner, Stone, Ting,  
            Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
          NOES:  Achadjian, Allen, Conway, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines,  
            Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Logue, Mansoor, Melendez,  
            Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Salas, Waldron
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alejo, Bigelow, Ian Calderon, Dahle, Daly,  
            Gray, Jones, Linder, Medina, Perea, Vacancy


          JG:d  8/14/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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