BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 526|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 526
Author: Holden (D)
Introduced:2/23/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/23/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Abduction
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill increases the fine for the crime of abducting
a minor for prostitution from a maximum of $2,000 to a maximum
of $5,000.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)States that a person who, for the purpose of committing a lewd
or lascivious act, persuades or entices by false promises,
misrepresentations, or the like, any child under 14 years of
age, to go out of the country, state, county, or into another
part of the same county, is guilty of kidnapping. (Penal Code
§ 207(b).)
2)Provides that when a person is convicted of kidnapping a
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victim under 14 years of age, the kidnapping is punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 11 years.
(Penal Code § 208.)
3)Provides that where a person is convicted of pimping or
pandering involving a minor the court may order the defendant
to pay an additional fine of up to $5,000. In setting the
fine, the court shall consider the seriousness and
circumstances of the offense, the illicit gain realized by the
defendant and the harm suffered by the victim. The proceeds
of this fine shall be deposited in the Victim-Witness
Assistance Fund and made available to fund programs for
prevention of child sexual abuse and treatment of victims.
(Penal Code § 266k(a).)
4)States that upon conviction of any person for a violation of
either procurement of a child under 16 for lewd or lascivious
acts or abduction of a minor for purposes of prostitution, the
court may impose an additional fine not to exceed $25,000.
(Penal Code § 266k(b).)
5)Provides that any person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another with the intent to effect or maintain a
felony violation of enticement of a minor into prostitution,
pimping or pandering, abduction of a minor for the purposes of
prostitution, child pornography, or extortion, is guilty of
human trafficking, and shall be punished by imprisonment in
the state prison for eight, 14, or 20 years and a fine of not
more than $500,000. (Penal Code § 236.1 (b).)
6)States, in Penal Code Section 236.1(c), that any person who
causes, induces, or persuades, or attempts to cause, induce,
or persuade, a person who is a minor at the time of commission
of the offense to engage in a commercial sex act, with the
intent to effect or maintain a violation of enticement of a
minor into prostitution, pimping or pandering, abduction of a
minor for the purposes of prostitution, child pornography, or
extortion, is guilty of human trafficking, and shall be
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison as follows:
a) Five, eight, or 12 years and a fine of not more than
$500,000.
b) 15 years to life and a fine of not more than $500,000
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when the offense involves force, fear, fraud, deceit,
coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful
injury to the victim or to another person.
7)Provides that every person who takes away any other person
under the age of 18 years from the parent, guardian, or other
person having the legal charge of the other person, without
their consent, for the purpose of prostitution, is punishable
by imprisonment in the state prison and a fine not exceeding
$2,000. (Penal Code § 267.)
This bill increases the fine for the crime of abducting a person
under the age of 18 years for prostitution from a maximum of
$2,000 to a maximum of $5,000.
Background
This bill raises the base fine for the crime of abduction for
the purposes of prostitution from $2,000 to $5,000. Because
existing law requires that a number of penalty assessments and
fees be added to a base fine, if a defendant was fined the
maximum $5,000, as provided in this bill, the following would be
imposed pursuant to the Penal and Government Code:
Base Fine:
$ 5,000
Penal Code 1464 state penalty on fines: $
5,000 ($10 for every $10)
Penal Code 1465.7 state surcharge:
$ 1,000 (20% surcharge)
Penal Code 1465.8 court operation assessment: $ 40
($40 fee per offense)
Government Code 70372 court construction penalty: $ 2,500 ($5
for every $10)
Government Code 70373 assessment: $ 30
($30 per felony/misdo)
Government Code 76000 penalty: $
3,500 ($7 for every $10)
Government Code 76000.5 EMS penalty: $ 1,000
($2 for every $10)
Government Code 76104.6 DNA fund penalty: $ 500 ($1
for every $10)
Government Code 76104.7 addt'l DNA fund penalty: $ 2,000 ($4
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for every $10)
Total Fine with Assessments: $ 20,570 (This figure does not
include victim restitution, or the restitution fine, and that
other fines and fees, such as the jail booking fee, attorney
fees, and probation department fees, may also be applicable.)
Criminal fines and penalties have climbed steadily in recent
decades. Government entities tasked with collecting these fines
have realized diminishing returns from collection efforts. A
recent San Francisco Daily Journal article noted, "When it comes
to collecting fines, superior court officials in several
counties describe the process as 'very frustrating,' 'crazy
complicated' and 'inefficient.'" (State Judges Bemoan Fee
Collection Process, Paul Jones and Saul Sugarman, San Francisco
Daily Journal, January 15, 2015.) In fact, according to the
Daily Journal article,"[f]elons convicted to prison time usually
can't pay their debts at all. The annual growth in delinquent
debt partly reflects a supply of money that doesn't exist to be
collected." (Id.) Given that a conviction for abduction for
purposes of prostitution carries prison time, this bill could
contribute to the growing about of delinquent, unpaid debt.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/23/15)
California Police Chiefs Association
Several individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/23/15)
California Public Defenders Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
According to the California Police Chiefs Association:
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The California Police Chiefs Association is pleased to
support Assembly Bill 526, which increases the penalty
for abduction for purposes of prostitution from two
thousand dollars to five thousand dollars. After drug
trafficking, human trafficking is the world's second
most profitable criminal enterprise, a status it shares
with illegal arms trafficking. Like drug and arms
trafficking, the United States is one of the top
destination countries for trafficking in persons.
For more than 30 years, California Penal Code section
267 has not been altered to match the growth of this
criminal practice. AB 526 would increase the penalty
and serve as a deterrent for committing abduction for
the purposes [of] prostitution.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:
According to the California Public Defenders Association:
Under current law, Penal Code §267, "taking away" a
minor from his or her parent or guardian, for the
purposes of prostitution, is a straight felony with a
maximum fine of $2,000. SB 526 would increase the fine
to $5,000.
This bill would modify a seldom-invoked penal code
section. After the passage of Prop 35 in 2012, Penal
Code § 236.1 was amended to read, in part, "Any person
who deprives or violates the personal liberty of
another with the intent to obtain forces labor or
services, is guilty of human trafficking and shall be
punished by imprisonment in state prison for 5, 8, or
12 years and a fine of not more than five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000)."
The punishment is increased for victims who are minors,
under certain circumstances, the possible punishment is
a life sentence under Penal Code § 236.1(c)(1)-(2).
Prosecutors will not use Penal Code §267, because Penal
Code § 236.1 is available to them. In the unlikely
event that PC § 267 is charged, it will serve only to
hamper low-income defendants from complying with their
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sentence. Wealthier defendants will be much more able
to pay a $5,000 fine than more defendants.
Furthermore, any money that ta defendant has ought to
go to the true victim-the prostituted minor.
Increasing the statutory fine will take money away from
victims and give it to the State.
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, 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, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Chávez, Quirk
Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. /
6/24/15 15:48:36
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