BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 293|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 293
Author: Levine (D), et al.
Amended: 6/25/15 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.
Senate Floor Amendments of 6/25/15 set an implementation date
for July 1, 2016 and adds Senator Anderson as a coauthor.
ANALYSIS:
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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
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.
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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
staff members of threats made against them. If an individual
institution has a more detailed policy, the policy is 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.
8) Sets an implementation date for July 1, 2016 and adds
coauthor, Senator Anderson.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/26/15)
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: (Verified6/26/15)
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
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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.
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
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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
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. /
7/1/15 16:19:45
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