BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2513 (Williams) - Human trafficking: aggravating factors
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|Version: June 21, 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 2513 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.
Fiscal
Impact: Potentially significant increase in state costs
(General Fund) for longer state prison sentences for human
trafficking convictions. The CDCR indicates 92 commitments to
state prison under the human trafficking statutes in 2015. While
the number of annual commitments potentially subject to the
sentence enhancement is unknown, for every 10 percent of annual
commitments meeting the specified criteria, increased state
costs of about $270,000 (General Fund) could be incurred.
Background: Existing law, as amended by the Californians Against Sexual
Exploitation (CASE) Act, an initiative measure enacted by the
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approval of Proposition 35 at the November 6, 2012, statewide
general election, proscribes the crime of human trafficking.
Under existing law, a person who deprives or violates the
personal liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced
labor or services, is guilty of human trafficking, which is
punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 5, 8, or 12
years and a fine of not more than $500,000. (PC § 236.1 (a).)
Under existing law, person who deprives or violates the personal
liberty of another to effect or maintain a violation of various
felony or misdemeanor offenses, including offenses relating to
prostitution, child pornography, as specified, or extortion, as
defined, is guilty of human trafficking and shall be punished by
imprisonment in the state prison for 8, 14, or 20 years and a
fine of not more than $500,000. (PC § 236.1 (b).)
Under existing law, a person who causes, induces, or persuades,
or attempts to cause, induce, or persuade, a person who is a
minor at the time of commission of the offense to engage in a
commercial sex act, with the intent to effect or maintain a
violation of various offenses is guilty of human trafficking and
is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison as follows:
Five, 8, or 12 years and a fine of not more than
$500,000.
Fifteen years to life and a fine of not more than
$500,000 when the offense involves force, fear, fraud,
deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of
unlawful injury to the victim or to another person. (PC §
236.1 (c).)
Proposed Law:
This bill 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 would provide that the enhancement shall
only be imposed if it is admitted by the defendant or found to
be true by the trier of fact.
This bill would be make additional technical, conforming
changes.
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Related
Legislation: AB 2327 (Cooley) 2016 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. This bill is scheduled to be
heard today by this Committee.
Prior Legislation: SB 473 (Block) 2014 would have added human
trafficking to the list of offenses that may be used to
establish a pattern of criminal activity for the purpose of
enhancing the sentence of any person who commits a crime for the
benefit of a criminal street gang. This bill was vetoed by the
Governor with the following message:
I am returning Senate Bill 473 without my signature. Under
current law, human trafficking convictions impose substantial
punishment, up to 20 years for sex trafficking offenses and 15
years-to-life for certain crimes involving children. These
sentences are more than three times the punishment that existed
two years ago. SB 473 would add yet another set of enhancements,
the third in nine years. No evidence has been presented to
support these new penalties
Today I have signed AB 1610, AB 1791, SB 955 and SB 1388, bills
that will solidly enhance enforcement of human trafficking laws
through use of wiretap, ensuring the availability of a victim's
testimony at trial and strengthening penalties for certain human
trafficking crimes involving minors.
Proposition 35, of the November 2012 election, also known as the
"Californians Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Act," among
its numerous provisions, increased penalties for human
trafficking offenses, required convicted sex traffickers to
register as sex offenders, mandated law enforcement training on
human trafficking, and required criminal fines from convicted
human traffickers to pay for services to help victims.
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Staff
Comments: By establishing a one-year sentence enhancement to be
served in state prison for the offense of human trafficking
under specified circumstances, this bill could result in
additional state incarceration costs for longer sentences to be
served in state prison.
The increase to state incarceration costs would be dependent on
the number of human trafficking convictions meeting the
specified provisions of this measure, which is unknown.
Additionally, the costs for the sentence enhancements imposed on
defendants would be incurred at the conclusion of the primary
sentences being served, which would vary. Commitment data from
CDCR reflects 92 commitments to state prison in 2015 under the
human trafficking statutes specified in this measure. While the
number of annual commitments potentially subject to the sentence
enhancement is unknown, for every 10 percent of annual
commitments meeting the specified criteria, increased state
costs of about $270,000 (General Fund) could be incurred.
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
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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