BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1675
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Date of Hearing: April 5, 2016
Counsel: Sandra Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
1675 (Mark Stone) - As Amended March 28, 2016
SUMMARY: Requires a program of informal supervision for minors
who commit the crimes of solicitation, prostitution, or
loitering with the intent to commit prostitution. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires a probation officer, in a case in which a minor is
alleged to have committed the crime of solicitation,
prostitution, or loitering with the intent to commit
prostitution, to provide informal supervision for the minor,
instead of requesting that the prosecutor file a petition
declaring the minor to be a ward of the juvenile court.
2)Requires the probation officer to delineate a specific program
of supervision for the minor.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that anyone who solicits or who agrees to engage in
or who engages in any act of prostitution is guilty of a
misdemeanor. (Pen. Code, § 647, subd. (a)(2).)
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2)Makes it a crime to loiter in a public place for the purpose
of engaging in prostitution. (Pen. Code, § 653.22.)
3)Punishes the crime of loitering with the intent to engage in
prostitution as a misdemeanor. (Pen. Code, § 653.26.)
4)States that, in a case where the probation officer concludes
that a minor is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court
or will probably soon be within that jurisdiction, he or she
may delineate a specific program of informal supervision for
the minor instead of filing a delinquency or dependency
petition, if the minor and the minor's parent or guardian
consent. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 654.)
5)Restricts a program of informal supervision to no more than
six months. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 654.)
6)Provides that a program of informal supervision may call for
the minor to obtain care and treatment for the misuse of or
addiction to controlled substances from a county mental health
service or other appropriate community agency. (Welf. & Inst.
Code, § 654.)
7)Provides that a program of informal supervision must require
the minor's parents or guardians of the minor to participate
with the minor in counseling or education programs. (Welf. &
Inst. Code, § 654.)
8)Authorizes the probation officer to file a petition, or
request that the prosecuting attorney file a petition, at any
time within the six-month period or up to 90 days thereafter.
(Welf. & Inst. Code, § 654.)
9)Excludes minors alleged to have committed certain offenses for
participating in a program of informal supervision, except in
the unusual case where the interest of justice would best be
served and the court gives reasons on the record for its
decision. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 654.3.)
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10)Authorizes a program of informal supervision specifically for
minors charged with driving under influence of alcohol or
drugs. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 654.1.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "While
California law states that children cannot consent to sex,
children continue to be convicted as prostitutes. The
majority of these children are trafficked and forced, induced
or coerced into commercial sex. Others are runaways who find
themselves on the streets with no other means to survive. All
are victims.
"Fortunately, children who are involved in prostitution are
beginning to be treated and provided services as victims.
Task forces, programs and services have been put into place,
and even scarce public dollars have been allocated to help
these children. However, the fact remains that these children
will always be viewed -- and more importantly, treated -- as
criminals as long as they are wards of delinquency and can be
prosecuted as prostitutes."
2)Informal Supervision Rather Than Wardship: Juvenile
delinquency actions are begun by the filing of a petition
under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602. The petition
alleges criminal offenses and is brought by the district
attorney.
But, the Welfare and Institutions Code provides an opportunity
for pre-petition informal supervision, also known as
diversion. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 654, 654.2.) If the
probation officer concludes that the minor is within the
juvenile court's jurisdiction, or likely soon will be, the
officer can delineate a specific program of supervision for
the minor for up to six months to try to adjust the situation
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that brings the minor within the juvenile court's
jurisdiction. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 654; In re Adam R. (1997)
57 Cal.App.4th 348.)
The discretion to initially determine whether to institute
informal supervision against the minor rests with the
probation officer and cannot be delegated to the prosecution.
(Charles S. v. Superior Court (1982) 32 Cal.3d 741, 746.)
Informal supervision is a voluntary contract between the
probation officer, the minor, and the parents or guardians.
The juvenile may be placed on informal probation for up to six
months. If the juvenile successfully completes this program,
the case is then closed. If the juvenile is unsuccessful at
any time during the six-month period, the probation department
may make a referral to the district attorney's office for a
formal petition to the juvenile court. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §
654.)
Importantly, the court cannot require a minor to admit the
truth of the petition before granting informal supervision.<1>
(In re Ricky J. (2005) 128 Cal.App.4th 783.)
This bill creates a process of informal supervision for minors
alleged to be involved in prostitution to be diverted from the
delinquency court process, so that these children can still
receive support services with the help of the probation
--------------------------
<1> In this respect, informal supervision differs from deferred
entry of judgment (DEJ) which provides an informal juvenile
court alternative for first-time non-violent offenders. With
DEJ, the minor admits the allegations of the petition, but a
jurisdictional and dispositional hearing is not held. Instead,
entry of judgment is deferred and the minor is required to
comply with certain conditions for a period of 12 to 36 months.
If the minor complies, the charges in the section petition are
dismissed, the arrest is deemed never to have occurred, and the
minor's juvenile record is sealed. (See Welf. & Inst. Code, §§
790-794.)
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department, without the immediate threat of criminal
sanctions. It requires probation officers to initially
provide informal supervision in these types of cases, rather
than having the prosecutor file a delinquency petition asking
the court to declare the minor a ward of the court.
3)Safe Harbor Laws: Legislation containing protective
provisions for trafficked children is sometimes called "safe
harbor" laws. Common goals identified in safe harbor
legislation include: that trafficked children be treated as
victims and not prosecuted as prostitutes, that trafficked
children be diverted from the justice system and placed in
appropriate services.
Safe harbor laws can take different approaches including
providing immunity from prosecution for certain offenses by
minors, creating an affirmative defense to criminal charges
for trafficked victims, providing for the pretrial diversion
of trafficked youth, and creating procedures to clear
trafficking related criminal convictions from victim's
records.
This bill diverts minors from the juvenile delinquency system
while providing needed services under the supervision of the
probation department.
4)Argument in Support: According to the California Attorneys
for Criminal Justice, "This bill would move from the
over-criminalization of minors that participate in acts of
prostitution and move towards providing diversion programs,
preventing the minor from being declared a ward of the
juvenile court.
"In the past few years, legislators and law enforcement have
frequently attempted to pass harsh, draconian laws that
increase punishment for persons that are involved in acts of
prostitution. However, as we have seen in the past few
decades, the over-criminalization, particularly that of youth,
has failed as an effective policy. In addition, criminalizing
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these minors continues the pattern of blaming the victim
without looking at the heart of the issue.
"AB 1675 would highlight these minors as victims and provide the
much needed diversion and support his vulnerable population
requires. By reevaluating our treatment our treatment of these
minors, we can avoid treating them as criminals and instead
providing much-need support to overcome these obstacles. These
minors are victimized without being provided needed
rehabilitation, mental health treatment, and educational
alternatives. This bill takes the right approach in
intervening before the minor is forced into a cycle of crime."
5)Related Legislation:
a) AB 1760 (Santiago) immunizes from prosecution a minor
who has engaged in a commercial sex act or who committed a
nonviolent crime as a human trafficking victim and instead
allows the minor to be adjudged to be a dependent subject
to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. AB 1760 will be
heard by this Committee today.
b) AB 1708 (Gonzalez) decriminalizes prostitution by
minors. AB 1708 is pending hearing in this Committee.
c) SB 1322 (Mitchell) decriminalizes specified
prostitution-related offenses committed by a person under
18, but would authorize a peace officer to take a minor
into temporary custody. SB 1322 is pending hearing in the
Senate Public Safety Committee.
6)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 114 (Pavley), Chapter 42, extended the sunset date to
January 1, 2017, for the discretionary pilot project
related to commercially sexually exploited minors
established pursuant to SB 1279 (Pavley) and extended the
date for the District Attorney of Los Angeles to submit a
report to the Legislature to April 1, 2016.
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b) AB 799 (Swanson), Chapter 51, Statutes of 2011, extended
the sunset of the existing Alameda County pilot project
relating to sexually exploited minors to January 2017, and
requires the Alameda County District Attorney to provide a
report to the Legislature on the pilot contingent upon
local funding and operation of the pilot by April 2016.
c) SB 1807 (Morgan), Chapter 1258, Statutes of 1988,
created a program of supervision specifically for minors
charged with driving under the influence of an alcoholic
beverage or drug.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California District Attorneys Association
California Public Defenders Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
AB 1675
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