BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 343 Hearing Date: April 21, 2015
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|Author: |Hancock |
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|Version: |April 9, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|LT |
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Subject: Corrections: Inmates
HISTORY
Source: Service Employees International Union
Prior Legislation: SB 1391 (Hancock)-Ch.695 Stats. 2014
Support: Legal Services for Prisoners with Children;
The California Public Defenders Association
Opposition: None known
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to (1) require the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to give strong
consideration to the use of libraries and librarians in
effective literacy programs in prison; (2) include completion of
a community college or four-year academic degree in the existing
requirement that CDCR incentivize inmate participation in
educational programming; and (3) authorize CDCR to allow certain
inmates in segregated housing to earn good time credits for
educational programming, as specified.
Existing law provides that the Secretary of the Department of
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Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR") "shall implement in
every state prison literacy programs that are designed to ensure
that upon parole inmates are able to achieve the goals contained
in this section?." (Penal Code § 2053.1.)
Existing law provides that CDCR shall prepare an implementation
plan for this program, and shall request the necessary funds to
implement this program as follows:
(1) The department shall offer academic programming
throughout an inmate's incarceration that shall focus on
increasing the reading ability of an inmate to at least a
9th grade level.
(2) For an inmate reading at a 9th grade level or higher,
the department shall focus on helping the inmate obtain a
general education development certificate, or its
equivalent, or a high school diploma.
(3) The department shall offer college programs through
voluntary education programs or their equivalent.
(4) While the department shall offer education to target
populations, priority shall be given to those with a
criminogenic need for education, those who have a need
based on their educational achievement level, or other
factors as determined by the department.
Existing law requires that "in complying with the requirements
of this section, the department shall give strong consideration
to computer-assisted training and other innovations that have
proven to be effective in reducing illiteracy among
disadvantaged adults." (Penal Code § 2053.1.)
This bill would revise this provision to also reference the use
of libraries and librarians.
Existing law provides a formula for each fiscal year to
determine funds to support academic programs for inmates and
specifies proportional increases and decreases in relation to
median salaries for full-time high school teachers as of
1956-57. (Penal Code § 2054.1.)
This bill would repeal provisions from this section concerning
the fiscal formula for supporting the academic education program
for inmates, as specified.
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This bill makes additional non-substantive revisions to this
section.
Existing law provides that CDCR "shall determine and implement a
system of incentives to increase inmate participation in, and
completion of, academic and vocational education consistent with
the inmate's educational needs as identified in the assessment
performed (as specified), including, but not limited to, a
literacy level (as specified), a high school diploma or
equivalent, or a particular vocational job skill." (Penal Code §
2054.2.)
This bill would include the "completion of a community college
or four year academic degree" in this provision.
Existing law generally provides that a person who is placed in
segregated housing is ineligible to earn good time credits, as
specified. (Penal Code § 2933.6.)
This bill would authorize CDCR "to allow specified inmates
placed in a Security Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services Unit,
Behavioral Management Unit, or an Administrative Segregation
Unit to earn credits pursuant to Section 2933 or 2933.05, or
credits as otherwise specified in regulation, during the time he
or she is in the Security Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services
Unit, Behavioral Management Unit, or the Administrative
Segregation Unit. The regulations shall establish separate
classifications of serious disciplinary infractions to determine
the rate of to restoration of credits, the time period required
before forfeited credits or a portion thereof may be restored,
and the percentage of forfeited credits that may be restored for
those time periods, not to exceed those percentages authorized
for general population inmates. The regulations shall provide
for credit earning for inmates who successfully complete
specific program performance objectives."
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RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the
state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care
to its inmate population and the related issue of prison
overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison
overcrowding.
On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to
reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of
design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:
143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of this year the administration reported that as "of
February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed
capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. This current population is now below the
court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(
Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February
10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman
v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and
Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December
31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,
Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's
consideration of bills that may impact the prison population
therefore will be informed by the following questions:
Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed
to reducing the prison population;
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Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy;
Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or
legislative drafting error; and
Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
Libraries in the past have been seen as a legal
resource for inmates who want to appeal their case.
However libraries have evolved to a place where they
provide literacy services to the inmate population.
For example, they run programs to tape or video
inmates reading children's stories that can be sent to
their children. This allows inmates to start reading
simple books and along the way teach them to read for
themselves. The libraries provide resources that
inmates can use upon their release and teach them how
to use the library and their computers so that when
they are released they can use public libraries to
access services. This section encourages inmates who
have already completed a GED or have a high school
diploma to take higher education courses leading to an
AA or four year degree by increasing the milestones
that could be earned for higher education degree
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completion.
2. What This Bill Would Do
This bill would do the following with regard to inmate
education:
Authorize CDCR to develop regulations to
allow certain inmates in segregated housing to
earn good time credit through academic
programming;
Incentivize educational programming
through community college or four-year academic
degree programs, as specified; and
Give strong consideration to libraries
and librarians in CDCR's literacy programs.
3. Background-Importance of Prison Education
According to the executive summary of "Degrees of Freedom:
Expanding College Opportunities for Incarcerated and Formerly
Incarcerated Californians":
It is estimated that over 50,000 individuals will be
released from California's prisons in the next two
years, and thousands more will be released from county
jails. Proposition 47, now being implemented
throughout the state, may result in the release of
thousands more. Without intervention, many of these
individuals are likely to return to custody in a
repeat cycle of incarceration. There is a way to stop
this revolving door: a recent RAND study shows that
participants in prison college programs have 51
percent lower odds of recidivating than those who do
not participate and, after release, the odds of
obtaining employment are higher for those who
participated in education. It is time to take
advantage of that knowledge by making high-quality
college opportunities available for the state's
currently and formerly incarcerated residents.
California is an innovative state, with the largest
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public higher education system in the nation. The
state has 112 community colleges, the vast majority of
which are located near a prison, jail or community
with high concentrations of formerly incarcerated
residents. These colleges enroll 74 percent of all
undergraduate students in California. They are
affordable gateways with existing support structures
and experience in helping educationally disadvantaged
students succeed.
Moreover, California has a history as a leader in
correctional education. In 1979, in-person college
courses were available in every prison in California.
Nine of 19 California State University campuses
provided on-ramp programs designed to support these
students as they transitioned into the college
environment, and 15 community colleges had programs
that supported students with criminal histories on
their campuses. Since then, the prison population in
California has grown by more than 700%, but access to
college inside prisons has not keep pace. In 1976, 8.6
percent of state prison inmates were enrolled in
college courses, and by 2013 the number of inmate
students enrolled in college had shrunk nearly in half
to 4.4 percent. Not only has enrollment dropped, but
quality has suffered as well. Statewide, in-prison
college programs were decimated in the early 1990s and
replaced with low-quality correspondence-based
distance education. <1>
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<1> Mukamal, Debbie, Rebecca Silbert, and Rebecca Taylor.
"Degrees of Freedom: Expanding College Opportunities for
Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Californians."
Stanford Law School; Berkeley Law, Feb. 2015. Web.
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