BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1156| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1156 Author: Brown (D) Amended: 9/1/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 7/7/15 AYES: Hancock, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning NOES: Stone NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/27/15 AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza NOES: Bates, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-24, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Imprisonment in county jail SOURCE: California Public Defenders Association Conference of California Bar Associations Judicial Council DIGEST: This bill applies a wide range of sentencing statutes and rules applicable to prison sentences to felony sentences imposed under criminal justice realignment. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires the court to choose the lower, middle or upper term when imposing a prison sentence and to state reasons for the AB 1156 Page 2 sentencing choice. The court shall impose the middle term unless it finds factors in aggravation or mitigation justifying imposition of the upper term or lower term, respectively. (Pen. Code § 1170 (b).) 2)Requires the sentencing court to inform a defendant sentenced to prison that he or she may be required to serve a period of parole. (Id.) 3)Provides that when a defendant has been committed to state prison, the court may, within 120 days of commitment on its own motion, or at any time upon the recommendation of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) or the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH), recall the sentence and resentence the defendant. Any new sentence may be no greater than the initial sentence. The court shall apply the sentencing rules in the Rules of Court so as to eliminate disparity and promote uniformity in sentencing. (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (d)(1).) 4)States that in any case in which the amount of pre-sentence credit exceeds the sentence imposed, the sentence shall be deemed to have been served. The court shall advise the defendant that he or she will serve a parole term, unless the in-custody credits exceed both confinement time and parole. (Pen. Code, § subd. (a)(3).) 5)Provides that if CDCR or BPH determine both that the prisoner has six months or fewer to live and would not pose a threat to public safety if released, CDCR director BPH may recommend to the court that the prisoner's sentence be recalled. The court may order the prisoner's release if it makes those same findings. (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (e)(1)-(2).) 6)Requires the court to hold a hearing to consider whether a prisoner's sentence should be recalled within 10 days of receipt of a positive recommendation by the CDCR director or BPH. (Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (e)(3).) 7)States that the Judicial Council shall promote uniformity of sentencing by adopting rules that set out criteria for the consideration of trial judge in making decisions to: a) Grant or deny probation; AB 1156 Page 3 b) Impose the lower or upper term; c) Impose concurrent or consecutive sentences; d) Determine whether or not to impose an enhancement when an enhancement is permitted by law; or e) Deny a period of mandatory supervision in the interests of justice, or determine the appropriate period and conditions of mandatory supervision. (Pen. Code, § 1170.3, subd. (a)(1)-(5).) 8)Provides that any person convicted of a felony who has been released from any state penal institution, whether discharged on completion of the total term or released on parole, who has not been incarcerated in a state penal institution since his or her release, and who has resided in California for three years may file a petition for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon. (Pen. Code, § 4852.01, subd. (a).) This bill: 1)Clarifies that in any case where the pre-imprisonment credit of a person sentenced to the county jail under the 2011 Realignment Act exceeds any sentence imposed, the entire sentence shall be deemed to have been served, except for the remaining portion of mandatory supervision, and the defendant shall not be delivered to the custody of the county correctional administrator. 2)Provides that when a defendant is sentenced to the county jail under the 2011 Realignment Act, the court may, within 120 days of commitment on its own motion, or upon the recommendation of the county correctional administrator, recall the sentence and resentence the, provided that the new sentence, if any, is no greater than the original sentence. 3)Requires the Judicial Council to adopt rules providing criteria for the imposition of the lower, middle or upper term. 4)Specifically requires the court to choose the lower, middle or upper term when imposing an executed felony jail term and to state reasons for the sentencing choice. The court shall impose the middle term unless it finds factors in aggravation or mitigation justifying imposition of the upper term or lower term, respectively. AB 1156 Page 4 5)Requires the sentencing court to inform a defendant sentenced to prison may be required to serve a period of postrelease community supervision. 6)Clarifies that a person released from the state prison on post release community supervision shall be supervised by the probation department of the county to which the person is released, and requires that the inmate be informed of his or her duty to report to the county probation department upon release. 7)Extends the right to petition for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon to persons convicted of a felony and sentenced to a county jail under the 2011 Realignment Act and requires that the inmate be informed in writing by the facility official of this right. 8)Provides that a person shall not be subject to prosecution for a non-felony offense arising out of a violation in the California Vehicle Code, with the exception of Driving under the Influence (DUI), pending against him or her at the time of his or commitment to a county jail under the 2011 Realignment Act. 9)Extends provisions related to the compassionate release of a state prison inmate, who is terminally ill, to an inmate sentenced to a county jail under the 2011 Realignment Act. Background Criminal justice realignment was a sea change in California criminal law, arguably comparable in importance to enactment of the Determinate Sentencing Law (DSL) in 1976. For most crimes, the DSL eliminated indeterminate sentences under which the time a defendant served in prison was determined by the Adult [ parole] Authority within a statutory range. Under the DSL, a court chooses from a "triad" of possible set or determined terms - lower, middle or upper. The middle terms is imposed unless there are factors in aggravation or mitigation justifying an upper or lower term. Over time, additional penalties - enhancements - and new sentencing schemes, including the Three Strikes law, were steadily enacted. The new penalty provisions were often AB 1156 Page 5 enacted in response to particularly notorious crimes for which it was argued the DSL provided insufficient punishment. The DSL requires the sentencing court to make a number of choices in imposing sentence. These choices or decisions include granting or denying probation and whether to impose the lower, middle or upper term if probation is denied or prohibited. Where the defendant is convicted of more than one felony offense, or if enhancements (e.g., use of a weapon or prior convictions) apply, sentencing becomes more complicated. The court chooses one offense to be the principal term and builds the sentence around it, making decision about whether sentences should be served consecutively (back-to-back) or concurrently (at the same time). Other sentencing decisions may apply, such as whether to strike punishment in any part. All of the sentencing rules a court must follow and choices a court must make have been considered in myriad appellate cases since enactment of the DSL. The published opinions of the courts become another body of law, binding on the trial courts. Where the appellate courts are in conflict, the California Supreme resolves the conflict and settles the issue. Voters and the Legislature steadily approved prison construction from 1982 through the 1990s, but construction programs largely slowed or stopped with the opening of a new prison in Delano in 2005. ( http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0620/p03s02-usju.html .) Recently, new prison medical facilities have been built through the supervision of a receiver appointed by the federal courts in response to a finding that California prisons were so crowded as to deny adequate medical care, creating an unconstitutional system of cruel and unusual punishment. (http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2014/budget/three-judge-panel/thre e-judge-panel-022814.aspx.) California spent heavily on medical facilities and care, but the federal court continued to demand that the prison population be reduced. The prison population was only substantially reduced through implementation of criminal justice realignment after 2011. Realignment essentially transferred responsibility for low-level felony inmates from state prison to counties and county jail. Certain offenders are excluded from county jail sentencing - those with a prior or current serious or violent felony conviction, or any person required to register as a sex AB 1156 Page 6 offender. Excluded defendants continue to serve felony terms in prison. This bill applies the sentencing statutes and court rules enacted and promulgated for the DSL to sentences imposed pursuant to criminal justice realignment. This bill should provide clarity and guidance for trial courts in making sentencing decisions under realignment. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Minor one-time costs (General Fund - Trial Court Trust Fund) to the Judicial Council to adopt rules of court. Minor to moderate ongoing local costs, potentially in excess of $50,000 to $100,000 (General Fund - Proposition 30) statewide for local law enforcement agencies to provide written notification to persons released or discharged from mandatory supervision or PRCS of the eligibility and procedures for a certificate of rehabilitation and pardon. Workload to provide notification would vary by county and be dependent on the method of implementation of the mandate. To the extent the increased costs to local agencies are not considered realigned "public safety services" under 2011 Realignment, local agencies could potentially claim reimbursement for these state-mandated costs. Potential net cost savings (Local Fund/General Fund - Proposition 30) to the counties for other activities authorized and prescribed. Potential cost savings will be realized to the extent county jails terms are reduced under the resentencing, compassionate release, and credit earning provisions of this measure. SUPPORT: (Verified9/1/15) California Public Defenders Association (co-source) Conference of California Bar Associations (co-source) Judicial Council (co-source) American Civil Liberties Union California Attorneys for Criminal Justice AB 1156 Page 7 California Catholic Conference, Inc. Legal Services for Prisoners with Children National Association of Social Workers Sheriff of the City and County of San Francisco OPPOSITION: (Verified9/1/15) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-24, 6/2/15 AYES: Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Linder Prepared by:Jerome McGuire / PUB. S. / 9/1/15 20:29:38 **** END ****