BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1675
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1675 (Mark Stone) - As Amended April 19, 2016
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|Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill 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.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor costs to county probations departments as they already can
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recommend informal probation.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Current law 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. However, a program of
informal supervision excludes minors alleged to have committed
certain offenses, or if the minor has previously participated
in the program.
2)Purpose. 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."
This bill diverts minors from the juvenile delinquency system
while providing needed services under the supervision of the
probation department. AB 1675 creates a process of informal
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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 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. This program will be available to
these minors even if they participated in informal
supervision in the past.
Proposed to be Amended in Committee. Per author's office, and
Public Safety Committee Analysis, the intent of this bill is
to apply it to minors involved in commercial sex; however, as
currently drafted, it also applies to several other
miscellaneous offenses, including panhandling, or lodging in
public or private property without permission. Committee
amendments will correct this error.
3)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."
4)Related Legislation:
a) AB 1760 (Santiago), also on today's agenda, directs a
peace office to take specific action when coming in contact
with person who may be a victim of human trafficking. AB
1760 also imposes a number or requirements on the
Department of Social Services (DSS), Department of Health
Care Services (DHCS), and the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST) related to child trafficking.
.
b) SB 1322 (Mitchell), in Senate Appropriations Committee,
decriminalizes specified prostitution-related offenses
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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.
5)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.
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.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1675
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