BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 230
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
230 (Hancock)
As Amended July 16, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 21-15
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Public Safety |4-1 |Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, |Lackey |
| | |Low, Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |10-4 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Eggman, |Gallagher, Jones |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Allows inmates serving life sentences who are found
suitable for parole, to be paroled as specified. Authorizes the
Governor to request a review of a decision by the board to grant
or deny parole at any time before the inmate's scheduled
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release. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a panel of two or more commissioners or deputy
commissioners to meet with each inmate one year before the
inmate's minimum eligible parole date in order to grant or
deny parole, as specified.
2)Provides that an inmate found suitable for parole shall be
paroled subject to review by the Governor.
3)Specifies that any time before an inmate's release the
Governor can request a review of parole suitability.
4)Requires an inmate found suitable for parole not be released
prior to his or her minimum eligible parole date, unless
eligible for an earlier release as a youthful offender.
5)Makes technical and conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that in the case of any inmate sentenced to an
indeterminate sentence the Board of Parole Hearings (Board)
shall meet with each inmate during the sixth year prior to the
inmate's eligible parole release date for the purposes of
reviewing and documenting the inmates activities and conduct
pertinent to both parole eligibility and to the granting and
withholding of postconviction credit.
2)Provides that one year prior to the inmate's minimum eligible
parole release date a panel of two or more commissioners or
deputy commissioners shall meet with the inmate and shall
normally set a parole release date.
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3)Specifies that the release date shall be set in a manner that
will provide uniform terms for offenses of similar gravity and
magnitude with respect to their threat to the public, and that
will comply with the sentencing rules that the Judicial
Council may issue and any sentencing information relevant to
setting of the parole release dates. The Board shall
establish criteria for the setting of parole release dates and
in doing so shall consider the number of victims of crime for
which the inmate was sentenced and other factors in mitigation
or aggravation of the crime.
4)States that one year prior to the inmate's minimum eligible
parole release date a panel of two or more commissioners or
deputy commissioners shall again meet with the inmate, and
except as provided, normally set a parole release date as
provided in Penal Code Section 3041.5.
5)Specifies that any decision of the parole panel finding an
inmate suitable for parole shall become final within 120 days
of the date of the hearing. During that time the board may
review the panel's decision. The decision shall become final
unless there was an error of law or an error of fact or new
information that should be presented to the board. No
decision of the parole panel shall be disapproved and referred
for rehearing except by a majority vote of the board, sitting
en banc, following a public meeting.
6)Provides that, based on facts from the underlying crime, an
inmate can be held for a longer period of time once they are
found suitable for parole.
7)States that up to 90 days prior to a scheduled release date,
the Governor may request review of a decision by a parole
authority concerning the grant or denial of parole to any
inmate in state prison.
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8)Specifies that the panel shall first determine whether a
prisoner is suitable for release on parole. Regardless of the
length of time served, a life prisoner shall be found
unsuitable for and denied parole if in the judgment of the
panel the prisoner will pose an unreasonable risk of danger to
society if released from prison.
9)States that all relevant, reliable information available to
the panel shall be considered in determining suitability for
parole. Such information shall include the circumstances of
the prisoner's: social history; past and present mental
state; past criminal history, including involvement in other
criminal misconduct which is reliably documented; the base and
other commitment offenses, including behavior before, during
and after the crime; past and present attitude toward the
crime; any conditions of treatment or control, including the
use of special conditions under which the prisoner may safely
be released to the community; and any other information which
bears on the prisoner's suitability for release.
Circumstances which taken alone may not firmly establish
unsuitability for parole may contribute to a pattern which
results in a finding of unsuitability.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown potential savings to the California
Department of Corrections (DCDR) for reduced incarceration
periods. Assuming the annual contracted bed rate of $29,000 per
inmate, the annual General Fund savings would be $29,000 per
each additional year not served by an inmate paroled timely.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "SB 230 is the Responsible
Parole Act. It ensures that once the Board of Parole Hearings
determines that an inmate is eligible, suitable, and safe for
parole, the implementation of that decision is expedited.
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"Currently, it is possible for an inmate to be found suitable
and safe for parole by the Board but still have their parole
date delayed by significant time, often years. This is because
the current system of sentencing enhancements can add time for
charges that the inmate was never convicted of, or factual
findings that the jury at trial declined to find.
"If a prisoner is deemed eligible and safe for release by the
authorities, they should be released as soon as feasible and not
subjected to excessive delays. Why should we keep them for
additional months or years in our state prison system at
tremendous cost to taxpayers?
"The bill creates steps to minimize bureaucratic delay, remove
duplication, and eliminate unfair procedures that often result
in a supposedly 'paroled' inmate spending additional time-often
years - in prison before his or her actual release.
"The bill also makes it easier for the Governor to review all
parole decisions by allowing him or her to decide whether to
approve parole any time before an inmate's scheduled parole
date."
Analysis Prepared by:
David Billingsley / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0001253
SB 230
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