BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 439|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 439
Author: Bloom (D)
Amended: 4/8/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/9/15
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Protective orders: batterer's program
SOURCE: Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the
State Bar
DIGEST: This bill requires a restrained party, who has been
ordered to participate in a batterer's program, to register for
the program by the deadline ordered by the court, or within 30
days if no deadline is indicated. This bill requires that at
the time of enrollment, the restrained party sign all necessary
program consent forms for the program to release specified
documents, including attendance records, to the court and the
protected party, and to provide the court and the protected
party with specified information regarding the program. This
bill additionally requires the Judicial Council, by July 1,
2016, revise or promulgate forms as necessary to effectuate the
above provisions.
ANALYSIS:
AB 439
Page 2
Existing law:
1)Authorizes a court, under the Domestic Violence Prevention
Act, to issue and enforce a domestic violence restraining
order, including an emergency protective order, a temporary
restraining order, and a permanent restraining order. (Fam.
Code Sec. 6300 et seq.)
2)Provides that after notice and a hearing, a court may require
a restrained party to participate in a batterer's program
approved by the probation department, as provided. (Fam. Code
Sec. 6343.)
This bill:
1)Provides, commencing July 1, 2016, that if the court orders a
restrained party to participate in a batterer's program
pursuant, the restrained party shall do all of the following:
Register for the program by the deadline ordered by the
court, but if no deadline is ordered by the court, the
restrained party shall register no later than 30 days from
the date the order was issued;
At the time of enrollment, sign all necessary program
consent forms for the program to release proof of
enrollment, attendance records, and completion or
termination reports to the court and the protected party,
or his or her attorney; and
Provide the court and the protected party with the name,
address, and telephone number of the program.
1)Requires, by July 1, 2016, the Judicial Council to revise or
promulgate forms as necessary to effectuate the provisions
above.
Background
With the establishment of pro-arrest policies in the 1980s,
increasing numbers of batterers were seen in criminal courts
across the country. Initially, many batterers were sentenced to
jail. Many victims began complaining that while they wanted the
AB 439
Page 3
domestic violence to stop, they did not want their partners
incarcerated. Thus, today most District Attorneys prosecute
domestic violence cases as misdemeanors, rather than as
felonies. In order to hold batterers accountable without
sentencing them to jail time, many batterers are ordered to
participate in batterer's intervention programs. These 52-week
programs are at the center of California's criminal justice
response to domestic violence.
Although early evaluations suggested that batterer's
intervention programs reduced domestic violence, subsequent
studies showed little to no reduction. This is, in part,
because so many participants fail to complete their programs.
Estimates of non-completion offered by probation officers is
somewhere between 30% and 50%, and the only county that tracks
this data reported a non-completion rate of 89%. ("Reducing
Domestic Violence and Other Criminal Recidivism: Effectiveness
of multilevel batterers intervention program." Coulter, Martha;
VandeWeerd, Carla, Source: Violence and Victims, Volume 24,
Number 2, 2009, p. 6.) However, when batterers complete the
assigned programs, the risk of arrest, for both domestic
violence and other crimes, is lowered. (Id. at 139-152.)
Accordingly, the law now requires, that when a defendant is
convicted of criminal domestic violence, the court and the
probation department are notified when the defendant enrolls in
a court-ordered batterer's intervention program and also
notified if the defendant fails to complete the program.
However, when courts issue civil domestic violence prevention
orders, there is no corresponding requirement that the court be
informed of the batterer's enrollment in, or completion of, the
program. To help ensure that batterers complete court-ordered
programs in a timely manner, this bill requires a restrained
party register for a court-ordered program by the deadline
provided by the court, or within 30 days if no deadline is
indicated. This bill also aids in data collection by requiring
that the restrained party sign all necessary program consent
forms for the program to release information, including
attendance records, to the court and the protected party.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
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SUPPORT: (Verified6/22/15)
Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar
(source)
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California Police Chiefs Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/22/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Executive Committee of the Family
Law Section of the State Bar, sponsor of this bill, writes:
Under existing law, the victim of domestic violence does not
have a way of monitoring the restrained party's enrollment and
progress in a court ordered batterer's program. The victim
and his or her attorney does not have any way of ensuring that
the restrained party has timely enrolled and completed the
program successfully. Due to confidentiality, the program
will not release confirmation of the restrained party's
enrollment, attendance and either successful completion or
termination of the program. And yet, this information is
shared in a criminal domestic violence case. This information
is necessary and important as it enables the court and the
victim to ascertain if the restrained party is taking steps to
address the issues and actions that led to the issuance of a
restraining order, and whether the restrained party is making
progress in the program. Such information is valuable to the
court and the victim as it can provide the court with
information to protect the victim and allow the court to
continue monitoring the restrained party's progress and any
threat to the victim, as well as address any continued
restrictions or modifications to a parenting plan, to ensure
the protection of the minor children.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, 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, O'Donnell, 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: Campos, Chávez, Gomez
Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
6/23/15 11:35:10
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