BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2327 (Cooley) - Contacting or communicating with a minor
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|Version: March 28, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2327 would expand the crime of contacting or
communicating with a minor, with the intent to commit specified
sexual offenses involving the minor, to include attempting to
contact or communicate with a minor with the intent to commit
human trafficking.
Fiscal
Impact: Potentially significant increase in state costs,
potentially in excess of hundreds of thousands of dollars
(General Fund) annually, for new and/or lengthier commitments to
state prison. The potential state prison sentence for contacting
a minor with the intent to commit human trafficking could range
between 2.5 years, 4 years, or 6 years, or 7.5 years to life for
cases involving force, fraud, or fear. For repeat offenders, an
additional and consecutive state prison sentence of 5 years
could be imposed.
Background: Existing law specifies that a person who contacts or
communicates with a minor, or attempts to contact or communicate
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with a minor, who knows or reasonably should know that the
person is a minor, with intent to commit any of the following
offenses involving the minor shall be punished by imprisonment
in the state prison for the term prescribed for an attempt to
commit the intended offense:
Kidnapping;
Kidnapping for ransom, reward, extortion, robbery, or rape;
Rape;
Sexual penetration other than rape or sodomy;
Willful harm or injury to a child;
Sodomy;
Lewd and lascivious acts with a minor;
Oral copulation;
Harmful matter sent to minor;
Forcible sexual penetration; and
Child pornography. (Penal Code (PC) § 288.3 (a).)
Existing law provides that the punishment for the offense of
contacting or communicating with a minor, or attempting to
contact or communicate with a minor with the intent to commit an
intended offense, is the same as an attempt to commit the
intended offense. (PC § 288.3 (a).) California criminal law
dictates that the punishment for attempt is generally one half
the sentence of the completed offense. (PC § 664.)
Existing law specifies that "contacts or communicates with"
shall include direct and indirect contact or communication that
may be achieved personally or by use of an agent or agency, any
print medium, any postal service, a common carrier or
communication common carrier, any electronic communications
system, or any telecommunications, wire, computer, or radio
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communications device or system. (PC § 288.3 (b).)
Existing law provides that a person convicted of a violation of
contacting or communicating with a minor with the intent to
commit a specified offense who has previously been convicted of
a violation of contacting or communicating with a minor with the
intent to commit a specified offense shall be punished by an
additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state
prison for five years. (PC § 288.3 (c).)
Proposed Law:
This bill would add human trafficking to the list of target
crimes subject to the offense of contacting or communicating
with a minor (PC § 288.3) with the intent to commit an offense
involving the minor.
Related
Legislation: AB 2513 (Williams) 2016 would impose a sentence
enhancement of one year in state prison for a human trafficking
conviction in which the defendant recruited or enticed the
victim from a shelter or placement designed to serve runaway
youth, foster children, homeless persons, or victims of human
trafficking or domestic violence. This bill is scheduled to be
heard today by this Committee.
Prior Legislation: Proposition 83, November 2006 General
Election, also known as "Jessica's Law," increased the penalties
for specified sex offenses and mandated that registered sex
offenders who have been convicted of a felony sex offense to be
monitored by GPS devices while on parole and for the remainder
of their lives. Proposition 83 also established the crime being
expanded under the provisions of this bill.
Staff
Comments: By expanding the felony offense of contacting or
communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a sex crime
to include the offense of human trafficking, this bill could
result in new commitments to state prison, as well as
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commitments to state prison with longer sentences.
Arrest data from the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicates
nearly 250 arrests annually under the specified offense of
communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a specified
crime, with an average of 82 annual arrests (33 percent) leading
to convictions. It is unknown how many new arrests and
subsequent convictions would occur due to expanding the offense
to include communicating with a minor with the intent to commit
human trafficking, but to the extent additional prosecutions
could proceed, additional workload and costs would be imposed on
the courts.
The prison term triad for the offense of human trafficking
pursuant to PC § 236.1(c) is five years, eight years, or 12
years, and additionally includes a fine of up to $500,000. For
cases in which the offense involves force, fear, fraud, deceit,
coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury
to the victim or to another person, the punishment is 15 years
to life and a fine of up to $500,000. As the sentence for the
attempt to commit a crime is generally one half the sentence of
the completed offense, the potential prison term triad under the
provisions of this measure is 2.5 years, four years, or six
years, and a fine of up to $250,000, or in cases involving
force, fraud, or fear, a potential prison term of 7.5 years to
life and a fine of up to $250,000.
The magnitude of new costs for commitments to state prison would
be dependent on the number of convictions and the sentencing
terms attached to those offenses. While costs in any one year
may not be significant, the cumulative effect over time of
overlapping sentences could be substantial.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the CDCR to reduce the prison
population to 137.5 percent of the prison system's design
capacity by February 28, 2016. Although public safety
realignment has achieved significant reductions in the prison
population, and the 2016-17 Governor's Budget projects meeting
the population cap in the near-term, the analysis by the
Legislative Analyst's Office suggests that CDCR's long-term
prison caseload will likely exceed this cap. Because
California's institutions are projected to exceed the population
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limit, any near-term and future increases to the state's prison
population would likely require the state to pursue one of
several options including contracting-out for additional bed
space or releasing current inmates early onto parole. Both
alternatives would result in additional state costs.
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