BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1675 Page A 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).) AB 1675 Page B 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.) AB 1675 Page C 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 AB 1675 Page D 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.) AB 1675 Page E 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 AB 1675 Page F 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. AB 1675 Page G 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 Page H