BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 722|
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VETO
Bill No: SB 722
Author: Bates (R), et al.
Amended: 8/31/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/28/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Leno, Liu, McGuire, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner,
Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
SENATE FLOOR: 40-0, 9/3/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner,
Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 9/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Sex offenders: GPS monitoring: removal
SOURCE: Author
SB 722
Page 2
DIGEST: This bill makes it a felony punishable by imprisonment
in the state prison, as specified, for a person to willfully
remove or disable, or permit another person to remove or
disable, an electronic, global positioning system (GPS), or
other monitoring device, if the device was affixed as a
condition of parole, postrelease community supervision (PRCS),
or probation as a result of a conviction for specified sex
offenses, and if specified criteria are met.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Authorizes, generally, the use of electronic monitoring or
GPS devices in the criminal justice system, as specified.
2) Provides, generally, that removing or otherwise defeating the
operation of a GPS device is a violation of parole or
probation, or subject to return to custody from an alternative
custody program.
3) Provides that parolees who are registered sex offenders and
are required to have a GPS device as a condition of parole
shall be subject to parole revocation and incarcerated in a
county jail for 180 days if they remove or otherwise disable
the device, as specified. (Penal Code § 3010.10.)
4) Includes an enhanced sentencing structure that applies to
crimes of rape, oral copulation, sodomy, and sexual
penetration committed by force, duress or threats; lewd
conduct with a child under the age of 14 and continuous sexual
abuse of a child which, depending on the number and kinds of
aggravating factors attendant to the crime, require a term of
15 or 25-years-to-life, or life without parole for specified
crimes against a minor. (Pen. Code § 667.61.)
This bill:
1) Makes it a felony for a person to willfully remove or
disable, or permit another person to remove or disable, an
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electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device affixed to his or
her person, if the device was affixed as a condition of
parole, PRCS, or probation as a result of a conviction of a
specified sex offense, if the person intended to evade
supervision and either does not surrender, or is not
apprehended, within one week of the issuance of a warrant for
absconding.
2) Provides that the felony is punishable by imprisonment in the
state prison for 16 months, or two or three years.
3) Excludes the removal or disabling of a monitoring device by a
physician, emergency medical services technician, or by any
other emergency response or medical personnel when doing so is
necessary during the course of medical treatment of the person
subject to the device.
4) Provides that the bill's provisions do not apply if the
removal or disabling of the device is authorized or required
by a court, by law enforcement, or by any other entity that is
responsible for placing the device upon the person or that has
the authority and responsibility to monitor the device.
5) Requires the terms of probation or parole for a person who
commits a violation of the bill's provision must include
participation and completion of a sex offender management
program.
Background
In October of 2014 the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
issued a report entitled, Special Review: Assessment of
Electronic Monitoring of Sex Offenders on Parole and the Impact
of Residency Restrictions. This review, conducted at the request
of the Senate Rules Committee, included the following
observations:
1) There exists little objective evidence to determine to what
extent, if any, GPS tracking is a crime deterrent, although a
small 2012 study funded by the National Institute of Justice
of 516 high-risk sex offenders found that offenders who were
not subjected to GPS monitoring had nearly three times more
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sex-related parole violations than those who were monitored by
GPS technology. Despite the rarity of studies defending GPS
as a crime deterrent, the OIG's interviews with parole agents
and local law enforcement personnel found that they value GPS
technology as a tool for its ability to locate parolees, track
their movements, and provide valuable information in solving
crimes.
2) GPS technology adds to parole agents' workloads in certain
aspects, while affording time-savings in others. For example,
agents spend approximately two hours reviewing and analyzing
parolees' tracks for a single-day period. On the other hand,
GPS facilitates mandatory face-to-face contacts between parole
agents and parolees by allowing the agent to locate parolees
more quickly than might be the case in locating a non-GPS
parolee.
3) Over 60 percent of parole agents who supervise sex-offender
parolees have caseloads exceeding established departmental
ratios (parolee-to-agent) when taking into consideration the
mix of high-risk vs low-risk parolees per caseload. In
addition, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) has a disparity of caseloads across its parole units,
with 14 of the 37 parole units that supervise sex offenders
reporting caseload sizes exceeding the CDCR's established
ratios for all agents assigned to those units. Simultaneously,
five other parole units report caseload sizes below the
department's established ratios for all of their parole
agents.
The OIG also presented data over the five years prior to the
report demonstrating that "transient sex offenders have
committed a majority of parole violations among parolee sex
offenders over the five year period. In fact, in the most
recently completed fiscal year (2013-14), over 76 percent of the
sex offender parolees whom the department charged with violating
their parole terms were transient. . . . According to the
parole administrators the OIG talked to, there are various
reasons transient sex offenders violate the conditions of their
parole more often than those with a residence. Among the reasons
voiced were increased prevalence of mental health issues, lack
of a stable support network, increased exposure to drugs and
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prostitution on the streets, and challenges finding employment."
Last session, the Legislature enacted SB 57 (Lieu, Chapter 776,
Statutes of 2013), which originally sought to enact a new felony
for felons being supervised in the community - either on PPCS --
who willfully defeated their GPS/electronic monitoring. That
bill was amended to impose the mandatory jail term now reflected
in existing law.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1) Potential moderate ongoing cost in excess the
$500,000 (GF) to CDCR for additional state prison commitments.
According CDCR records, approximately 1,200 inmates, in state
prison for the qualifying crimes, were release onto parole in
a 12-month period. The annual contract bed rate is $29,000, if
each year 10 parolees, less than one percent, were sentenced
to two years for disabling their GPS, the first-year costs
would be $290,000, and the ongoing cost would be $580,000.
2) Potential increase cost to CDCR, and
nonreimbursable county probation costs, for additional persons
required to participate in and complete a sex offender
management program.
3) Potential decrease in local incarceration costs
if individuals subject to parole revocation are charged with
the state prison felony instead.
SUPPORT: (Verified10/27/15)
California District Attorneys Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Crime Victims United of California
Office of the San Diego District Attorney
Orange County Board of Supervisors
Orange County District Attorney's Office
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Orange County Sheriff's Department
Peace Officers Research Association of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified10/27/15)
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author states in part:
SB 722 is needed in order to send the message to
convicted sex offenders that cutting off or altering
their ankle bracelet is a serious offense and will not
be taken lightly. The two men mentioned earlier are
known to have re-offended on two different occasions.
When they first cut off their devices and fled to
Nevada, they should have been prosecuted with more
than just a short few months in county jail as this
was a deliberate attempt to run from law enforcement.
Additionally, the offenses listed in SB 722
deliberately spell out the most serious, egregious sex
crimes. These offenses are rape, spousal rape, sexual
penetration, lewd or lascivious acts and children,
sodomy, oral copulation, and continuous sexual abuse
of a child. SB 722 is needed today more than ever to
ensure that justice is being served to those that defy
law enforcement.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: California Attorneys for Criminal
Justice, which opposes this bill, submits in part:
In the last two legislative sessions, our laws have
been changed to provide certain oversight on tracked
sex offenders. However, there has been insufficient
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time to evaluation whether the implementation of this
new law has proven to be effective at deterring
persons from disabling or removing their GPS devices.
Notwithstanding these laws, sending a person back to
prison for a minor offense does not address the root
SB 722 Page 6 issues of persons being ill-prepared to
reenter their communities upon release, The enormous
cost of incarceration and parole revocations for even
minor offenders continue to contribute to budget
constraints and fuel public cries for fiscal reform.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
I am returning the following nine bills without my
signature:
Assembly Bill 144
Assembly Bill 849
Senate Bill 168
Senate Bill 170
Senate Bill 271
Senate Bill 333
Senate Bill 347
Senate Bill 716
Senate Bill 722
Each of these bills creates a new crime - usually by
finding a novel way to characterize and criminalize conduct
that is already proscribed. This multiplication and
particularization of criminal behavior creates increasing
complexity without commensurate benefit.
Over the last several decades, California's criminal code
has grown to more than 5,000 separate provisions, covering
almost every conceivable form of human misbehavior. During
the same period, our jail and prison populations have
exploded.
Before we keep going down this road, I think we should
pause and reflect on how our system of criminal justice
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could be made more human, more just and more
cost-effective.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-1, 9/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Perea, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NOES: Quirk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Patterson
Prepared by:Alison Anderson / PUB. S. /
11/4/15 13:34:15
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