BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1375|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1375
Author: Thurmond (D)
Introduced:2/27/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/16/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Criminal penalties: nonpayment of fines
SOURCE: Conference of California Bar Associations
DIGEST: This bill increases the statutory rate for payment of
fines by incarceration from not less than $30 per day to not
less than $125 per day.
ANALYSIS:
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. (Penal Code § 1205(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
AB 1375
Page 2
the fine. (Penal Code § 1205(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. (Penal Code §
1205(c) and (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. (Penal Code § 2900.5(a).)
This bill 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.
Background
Penal Code Section 1205 gives the court power to enforce payment
of fine in criminal case by imprisonment. Penal Code Section
1205 also allows defendants to request that the trial court
exercise its discretion to convert fines to jail time. The
statute, however, cannot be used to pay off restitution fines or
victim restitution orders. (Penal Code § 1205(f).)
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." (Id.) 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." (Id.)
By raising the daily rate at which defendants can pay off fines
AB 1375
Page 3
and fees by converting them to jail time, this bill may help
incentivize defendants to address delinquent debt.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/26/15)
Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/26/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Conference of California Bar
Associations states:
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 $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,
AB 1375
Page 4
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.
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, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
AB 1375
Page 5
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Chávez, Gomez
Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. /
6/29/15 15:52:18
**** END ****