BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1375
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015
Counsel: Sandra Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
AB
1375 (Thurmond) - As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUMMARY: Increases the statutory rate for payment of fines by
incarceration from not less than $30 per day to not less than
$125 per day. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that the time of imprisonment for failure to pay a
fine be calculated as no more than one day for every $125 of
the fine.
2)Provides that all days spent in custody by the defendant must
first be applied to the term of imprisonment and then to any
fine including, but not limited to, base fines at the rate of
not less than $125 per day.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes the court to incarcerate a defendant until an
imposed criminal fine is satisfied, but limits such
imprisonment to the maximum term permitted for the particular
offense of conviction. (Pen. Code, § 1205, subd. (a).)
2)Requires that the time of imprisonment for failure to pay a
fine be calculated as no more than one day for every $30 of
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the fine. (Pen. Code, § 1205, subd. (a).)
3)States that this provision applies to any violation of any of
the codes or statutes of the state which are punishable by a
fine or by a fine and imprisonment, but that it does not apply
to restitution fines or restitution orders. (Pen. Code, §
1205, subds. (c) & (f).)
4)Provides that all days spent in custody by the defendant must
first be applied to the term of imprisonment and then to any
fine including, but not limited to, base fines at the rate of
not less than $30 per day, or more, in the discretion of the
trial court. (Pen. Code, § 2900.5, subd. (a).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 1375 will
bring equity to an unfair situation that has been getting
worse with each passing year, by making the first increase in
the dollar amount of credit incarcerated prisoners receive
against fines imposed since the law was enacted in 1976. In
that time, the minimum wage has increased by over 600% and
the total fines, with penalties and assessments, of typical
infractions has increased similarly - to over 475% for running
a red light and more than 800% for travelling 15 miles over
the speed limit. The failure to adjust the rate of credit
hurts poor defendants far more than better-off defendants,
increasing anger and resentment at the inequity. The
inability of an increasing number of defendants to pay the
fine outright also increases jail overcrowding and adds to the
burden on the taxpayers, since the costs of incarceration are
substantially more than the value of the fines imposed."
2)Penal Code Section 1205: Penal Code section 1205 gives the
court power to enforce payment of fine in criminal case by
imprisonment. However, imprisonment pending payment of a fine
is unconstitutional as applied to a convicted indigent
defendant if the failure to pay is due to indigence and not to
willfulness. (In re Antazo (1970) 3 Cal.3d 100, 103-104.)
AB 1375
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Penal Code section 1205 is also used by defendants as a vehicle
to request that the trial court exercise its discretion to
convert fines to jail time. However, the statute cannot be
used to pay off restitution fines or victim restitution
orders. (Pen. Code, § 1205, subd. (f).)
3)Outstanding Court-Ordered Debt: 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, "California courts and counties collect
nearly $2 billion in fines and fees every year. Nevertheless,
the state still has a more than $10.2 billion balance of
uncollected debt from prior years, according to the most
recent date from 2012." (See Jones & Sugarman, State Judges
Bemoan Fee Collection Process, San Francisco Daily Journal,
(January 5, 2015).) "Felons 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." (Ibid.) In the same article, the Presiding
Judge of San Bernardino County was quoted as saying "the whole
concept is getting blood out of a turnip." (Ibid.)
By raising the rate at which defendants can pay off fines and
fees by converting them to jail time, this bill may help
incentivize defendants to address delinquent debt.
4)Argument in Support: According to the Conference of
California Bar Associations, the sponsor of this bill, "Under
existing law, a criminal defendant may choose or be ordered to
serve jail time in lieu of paying a criminal fine, or he or
she may be allowed to credit time spent incarcerated against
the payment of a fine. The minimum rate of credit is $30.00
per day of incarceration - an amount that was set in 1976 and
has not been adjusted since. In almost all California
counties, this "minimum" has since become the actual amount
credited.
"When this law was enacted, $30.00 was equivalent to working 12
hours at a minimum wage job ($1.50/hour). On January 1, 2016,
the minimum wage in California will increase to be
$10.00/hour, meaning that the same 12-hour day should be worth
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$120 - essentially the amount provided by AB 1375. By another
measure, $30.00 in 1976 had the same buying power as $125.00
in 2014, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Further, while base fines have not increased substantially in
the 39 years since 1976, the total amount offenders are
required to pay has skyrocketed due to added penalties and
assessments. The total fine for running a red light increased
from $103 in 1993 to $490 today - a 475% increase in just 20
years, compared to the proposed 416% increase in the credit
proposed by AB 1375. Speeding up to 15 mph over the limit
also comes with a $238 price tag - more than 800% above what
it cost in 1993. By almost any standard, the proposed increase
in the credit for jail time in lieu of a fine is very
reasonable, modest even, when it is compared to the rise in
inflation, the increased minimum wage, and the vast inflation
of court fines and fees.
"This failure to adjust the rate of credit hurts poor defendants
far more than better-off defendants, increasing anger and
resentment at the inequity. Poor defendants are less likely
to be able to post bail and will spend more time incarcerated
awaiting a hearing or "working off" their fine. The inability
of an increasing number of defendants to pay the fine outright
also increases jail overcrowding.
"Finally, it is not fiscally responsible to credit defendants
only $30 per day in lieu of fine payments. At an average cost
of $100 per day to house somebody in a California county jail,
it would take 10 days and cost $1000 to house a person paying
off a $300 fine. At the more equitable rate of $125 per
day, it would only take 3 days and cost about $300. The cost
savings alone justify the increase to $125 per day."
5)Prior Legislation: SB 1371 (Anderson), Chapter 49, Statutes
of 2012, prohibits a defendant from satisfying an order to pay
direct restitution to a victim, a restitution fine, or both,
through time spent in custody at the statutory rate of $30 per
day.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
AB 1375
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Support
Conference of California Bar Associations (Sponsor)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744