BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1051 (Maienschein) - Human trafficking
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|Version: July 15, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 6 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1051 would add human trafficking to the list of
predicate crimes that establish a "pattern of criminal gang
activity" as specified.
Fiscal
Impact: Potential increase in annual state incarceration costs
potentially in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars
(General Fund) annually for persons subject to extended
sentences due to enhancements resulting from the expanded
definition of a criminal street gang. For every 10 individuals
subject to a five-year sentence enhancement, increased state
incarceration costs of $270,000 per year would result,
compounding to $1.35 million after five years due to overlapping
sentences based on an in-state contract bed cost of $27,000 per
year.
Background: The California Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act
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(STEP Act) was passed in 1988 to seek the eradication of
criminal street gang activity by focusing upon patterns of
criminal gang activity and upon the organized nature of street
gangs.
Under the STEP Act, a "pattern of criminal gang activity" is
defined as the commission or attempted commission of two or more
of 33 enumerated offenses, provided the last of the offenses
occurred within three years after a prior offense, and the
offenses were committed on separate occasions, or by two or more
persons. The list of predicate crimes includes but is not
limited to assault, robbery, grand theft, burglary, carjacking,
kidnapping, money laundering, arson, rape, and murder.
In addition, current law provides that a pattern of gang
activity may be shown by the commission of one or more of 28 of
the 33 enumerated offenses referenced above.
Existing law defines "criminal street gang" as any ongoing
organization, association, or group of three or more persons,
whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary
activities the commission of one or more of the 33 enumerated
offenses, having a common name or identifying sign or symbol,
and whose members engage in a pattern of gang activity. The
definition of a criminal street gang triggers enhanced
penalties, bail, and parole/probation conditions.
Under existing law, once the existence of a criminal street gang
is established, any person convicted of a felony committed for
the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with any
criminal street gang is subject to a sentence enhancement or
special gang penalty, as specified below:
The minimum enhancements (in addition to the term for the
underlying felony) are:
§ felony (other than specified)2, 3, or 4 years
§ serious felony 5 years
§ violent felony 10 years
§ home invasion robbery life, min. 15 years before parole
eligibility
§ carjacking life, min. 15 years
§ shooting from vehicle life, min. 15 years
§ extortion/witness intimidation life, min. 7 years
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Proposed Law:
This bill would add human trafficking as an offense that may be
used to establish a pattern of criminal gang activity, as
defined. Because this bill would amend Proposition 21 (March
2000), which greatly increased the enhancement imposed where a
defendant commits a felony for the benefit of a gang, this bill
requires a 2/3 vote of the Legislature.
Prior
Legislation: SB 473 (Block) 2014 was substantially similar to
this bill. This bill was vetoed by the Governor with the
following message:
I am returning Senate Bill 473 without my signature.
Under current law, human trafficking convictions impose
substantial punishment, up to 20 years for sex trafficking
offenses and 15 years-to-life for certain crimes involving
children. These sentences are more than three times the
punishment that existed two years ago. SB 473 would add yet
another set of enhancements, the third in nine years. No
evidence has been presented to support these new penalties
Today I have signed AB 1610, AB 1791, SB 955 and SB 1388, bills
that will solidly enhance enforcement of human trafficking laws
through use of wiretap, ensuring the availability of a victim's
testimony at trial and strengthening penalties for certain human
trafficking crimes involving minors.
Staff
Comments: By expanding the list of predicate crimes used to
establish a pattern of gang activity as part of the proof of the
existence of a criminal street gang to include the crime of
human trafficking, this bill could potentially increase the
number of persons subject to numerous gang-related sentence
enhancements and special gang penalties.
The provisions of this bill would not affect cases in which the
existence of a criminal street gang has already been established
through other offenses listed as predicate gang crimes, but
would apply in the case where a group with a common name (or
common identifying sign or symbol) engages in human trafficking
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and no other offenses listed as predicate gang crimes have been
used to establish the existence of a gang. In addition to the
impact on newly established criminal street gang members, this
bill could increase the number of enhancements for prosecutions
for non-gang members who commit a felony in association with a
criminal street gang as more broadly defined under the
provisions of this bill. It is unknown the extent to which the
additional crimes will impact gang-related sentencing, but given
the broad range of extended sentence enhancements and penalties
provided for under current law, ongoing costs could be
substantial.
As an example, for every 10 individuals subject to a five-year
sentence enhancement, increased state incarceration costs of
$270,000 (General Fund) per year would result, compounding to
$1.35 million after five years due to overlapping sentences
based on an in-state contract bed cost of $27,000 per year. To
the extent the number of individuals impacted is greater or
less, or the average sentence enhancement imposed is longer or
shorter than the five years estimated, annual costs would be
impacted accordingly.
According to the Attorney General report, Gangs Beyond Borders:
California and the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime
(March 2014), "Largely due to increased public and law
enforcement awareness of the issue, arrests under two key human
trafficking statutes - human trafficking for forced labor (PC
§236.1(a)) and sex trafficking of minors (PC §236.1(c)) - have
increased exponentially in the past six years." Arrest
information from the DOJ indicates an increasing number of
arrests for violations of human trafficking offenses, which
reflect about 75 arrests in 2010, increasing to nearly 350
arrests in 2014. In addition, Proposition 35 was approved by the
voters in November 2012, which expanded the definition of human
trafficking, which could result in future increases in the
committal of these crimes.
The Three-Judge Court has ordered the State to reduce its prison
population to 137.5 percent of the prison system's design
capacity by February 28, 2016. Pursuant to its February 10, 2014
order, the Court has ordered the CDCR to implement several
population reduction measures, prohibited an increase in the
population of inmates housed in out-of-state facilities, and
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indicated the Court will maintain jurisdiction over the State
for as long as necessary to ensure the State's compliance with
the 137.5 percent final benchmark is durable, and that such
durability is firmly established. Any future increases to the
State's prison population challenge the ability of the State to
reach and maintain such a "durable solution," and could require
the State to pursue one of several options, including
contracting-out for additional bed space or releasing current
inmates early onto parole.
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