BILL NUMBER: AB 1351 VETOED DATE: 10/08/2015 To the Members of the California State Assembly: I am returning Assembly Bill 1351 without my signature. AB 1351 would transform the existing deferred entry of judgment program available to low level drug offenders to one that does not require a guilty plea. Instead, the offender would plead not guilty and when the program is completed, the charges would be dropped. If the offender fails to complete the program, the prosecutor would proceed with the charges at that time. While I support the goal of giving low-level offenders a second chance, I am concerned that the bill eliminates the most powerful incentive to stay in treatment ? the knowledge that judgment will be entered for failure to do so. The bill goes too far. Sincerely, Edmund G. Brown Jr.