BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2367


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          Date of Hearing:  May 4, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          AB  
          2367 (Cooley) - As Amended April 20, 2016


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          |             |Transportation                 |     |15 - 0       |
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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill authorizes the court to order a person convicted of  
          driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) with one or more  
          DUI priors within 10 years, to enroll, participate in, and  
          successfully complete, a qualified "24/7 Sobriety" monitoring  
          program, as defined, as a condition of probation.  AB 2367  
          requires DMV to study and report to the Legislature by January  
          1, 2020, on the success of the 24/7 Sobriety program in reducing  
          the driving-under-the-influence recidivism rate in counties  








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          where it is used.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          One-time cost of approximately $500,000 (MVA) to the DMV to  
          study the success of the 24/7 Sobriety program and prepare the  
          report required.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Background/Purpose. Under existing law, a person who is  
            convicted of DUI or DUI with injury within 10 years of a prior  
            DUI offense can be granted probation under certain  
            circumstances, including paying a fine, serving a jail  
            sentence, enrollment in a DUI program licensed by the  
            Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), and suspension of  
            the person's driving privilege.


            This bill would add an additional post-trial option to the  
            punishment of a DUI offender who reoffends within 10 years of  
            a prior DUI offense:  a 24/7 Sobriety program.  In such a  
            program, as established by this bill and licensed by DHCS  
            pursuant to existing requirements, the participant must  
            abstain from alcohol and controlled substances and submit to  
            either twice daily alcohol or drug testing, continuous alcohol  
            testing (through a transdermal bracelet), or random drug and  
            alcohol testing as a condition of probation.  If a participant  
            fails a test, they are subject to "certain but modest  
            punishment."  In similar programs established in other states,  
            these punishments are typically a day or two in jail.  This  
            bill provides that an offender can still be required by the  
            court to participate in any other DHCS-licensed DUI program as  
            a condition of probation.









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            The author intends to add to the toolkit of options available  
            to judges in California through the use of 24/7 Sobriety  
            programs.  The author notes, 40% of all traffic-related  
            fatalities in California involve alcohol, and critically,  
            nearly one-third of those convicted for DUI re-offend.  By  
            establishing 24/7 Sobriety as an additional option for the  
            courts, the author intends to target those offenders with an  
            underlying alcohol problem that makes them more likely to  
            consistently drive while impaired.


          2)Support.  Supporters state that the 24/7 Sobriety program  
            gives police, judges and communities a different way to handle  
            such offenders that is humane, effective and reduces crowding  
            in correctional facilities.


          3)Opposition.  According to Legal Services for Prisoners with  
            Children, "the zero-tolerance approach of the 24/7 Sobriety  
            program flies in the face of medical science which identifies  
            alcoholism as a disease.  There can never be an effective law  
            enforcement solution to a medical problem.  Instead of passing  
            ever-more punitive laws in order to punish people struggling  
            with alcoholism.  California should put resources into public  
            education and voluntary drug and alcohol treatment programs."


          4)Related legislation: SB 1046 (Hill), requires all DUI  
            offenders to install an IID for a specified period of time in  
            order to have their license reinstated.  SB 1046 is scheduled  
            to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on April  
            25, 2016.





          Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)  








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          319-2081