BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 293| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 293 Author: Levine (D) Amended: 6/1/15 in Senate Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/9/15 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/9/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Prisons: inmate threats SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill establishes a statewide policy for the handling of threats made by inmates, wards, or family members of inmates and wards, against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) staff. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1) Creates in state government that CDCR is to be headed by a secretary, who is appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate AB 293 Page 2 confirmation, and serves at the pleasure of the Governor. CDCR consists of Adult Operations, Adult Programs, Health Care Services, Juvenile Justice, the Board of Parole Hearings, the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Prison Industry Authority, and the Prison Industry Board. (Government Code § 12838 (a).). 2) Authorizes the Director of CDCR to prescribe and amend rules and regulations for the administration of the prisons and the administration of the parole of persons, except as specified. All rules and regulations must, to the extent practical, be stated in language that is easily understood by the general public. (Penal Code § 5058 (a).) 3) Requires each state prison under CDCR's jurisdiction to develop a Mutual Aid Escape Pursuit Plan and Agreement with local law enforcement agencies. The plan, together with any supporting information, must be submitted for annual review to the city council of the city containing, or nearest to, the institution and to the county board of supervisors of the county containing the prison. Nothing in this section requires the CDCR to disclose any information which may threaten the security of an institution or the safety of the surrounding community. (Penal Code § 5004.5.) This bill: 1) Requires CDCR to establish a statewide policy on operational procedures for handling threats made by inmates, wards, or by the family members of inmates and wards, against CDCR staff. 2) Requires the policy to include methods to ensure that CDCR staff members are advised of threats made against them by inmates, wards, or the family members of inmates and wards. 3) Requires that all threats against CDCR staff made by inmates, wards, or the family members of inmates and wards be thoroughly investigated. 4) Requires that a copy of the statewide policy be made accessible to members of the public, upon request. 5) Does not prohibit an individual institution within CDCR from developing a more detailed notification procedure for advising AB 293 Page 3 staff members of threats made against them. If an individual institution has a more detailed policy, the policy would be required to be accessible to every member of the staff of the institution. 6) Requires CDCR to provide training on the policy developed pursuant to this section, as specified. 7) Takes effect immediately. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified6/22/15) AFL-CIO American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees California Correctional Peace Officers Association California Correctional Supervisors Organization Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 OPPOSITION: (Verified6/22/15) Legal Services for Prisoners with Children ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author: Under existing law, there is no requirement that CDCR develop statewide notification procedures for handling death threats. Moreover, there is no requirement that individual institutions have policies. Of the institutions that do currently have policies, there is no requirement that those policies are made available to ensure proper procedure is followed and that notification occurs and threats are fully investigated. AB 293 Page 4 The current situation potentially puts the peace officer, the officer's family, and the officer's community at risk. AB 293 seeks to improve safety by creating uniformity among our correctional institutions and consistency for investigating threats. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Legal Services for Prisoners with Children states, in part: While it would be helpful for CDCR to establish uniform, statewide policies, we feel that the Legislature could be much more proactive. Rather than let CDCR draft its own policy, the Legislature should use its authority to draft one that is sensible and fair. Letting CDCR draft its own disciplinary practices overlooks the important mandate that the Legislature has to govern California's prison system. Threats made against correctional officers are often unsubstantiated. In disciplinary hearings, it is often the officer's word against the inmates. This bill, by not containing sufficient provisions, would allow prison officials to use criminal threats as a way of seeking disciplinary retaliation against California prisoners. This bill would be improved if it set forth protections for inmates, such as strict evidentiary criteria in disciplinary hearings and limits on the type of severity of punishment (if someone is found guilty). Furthermore, this bill should clearly state that prisoners cannot be punished or have privileges taken away if it is found that their family members threatened a correctional staff member. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/9/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina AB 293 Page 5 Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, O'Donnell Prepared by:Linda Tenerowicz / PUB. S. / 6/23/15 11:30:51 **** END ****