BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 759
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 759
(Anderson) - As Amended June 2, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy | Public Safety |Vote:| 5 - 2 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill repeals the provision of law that makes inmates placed
in a Security Housing Unit (SHU), or other specified segregation
units ineligible to earn credits and instead requires the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
SB 759
Page 2
to establish regulations, by July 1, 2017, to allow those
inmates to earn credits.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)One-time costs to CDCR in the $100,000 (GF) range to
promulgate regulations.
2)Unknown GF savings to the extent earned credits reduce time
served by individuals formerly unable to earn credits.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Under current law, an inmate placed in a SHU,
Psychiatric Services Unit (PSU), Behavioral Management Unit
(BMU), or an Administrative Segregation Unit (ASU) for
specified misconduct, or upon validation as a prison gang
member or associate, is ineligible to earn custody credits
during the time he or she is in the SHU, PSU, BMU, or the ASU
for that misconduct.
CDCR has SHUs in five of its institutions - Pelican Bay State
Prison, California State Prison in Corcoran, California
Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, California State Prison
in Sacramento, and California Institution for Women.
Until recently, inmates were assigned to the SHU for two
reasons: for a determinate time period as punishment for
violating the rules or regulations of the prison, or for an
indeterminate period of time if the inmate is validated as a
member or associate of one of the designated prison gangs.
According to the author, "The case, Asker v. Brown, was
SB 759
Page 3
settled in September 2015 and is now in the process of being
implemented. Under terms of the agreement, prisoners will no
longer serve SHU terms for perceived gang affiliation. The
settlement requires the CDCR to conduct hearings on everyone
assigned to SHU because of gang affiliation to determine
whether they should remain in solitary. So far over 1,000
hearings have been held and 80% of the prisoners housed in
isolation have been cleared for transfer to general
population. It is important to add that no significant
incidents have resulted from these transfers."
2)Purpose. According to American Friends Service Committee, the
sponsor of this bill, "SB 759 is needed because prisoners in
isolation have had no opportunity to earn credits towards
release since these credits were removed in budget language in
2010 - without any legislative hearings or opportunities to
question whether the policy made sense. One thing we do know
is that it took away hope from many people whose sentences
should have been shortened because they were not receiving
disciplinary write-ups. It also costs the taxpayers a great
deal of money for every extra year a person spends behind
bars. Earned credits are a way to provide incentives to
people inside to program and prepare for release, while also
providing structural ways to keep the population down."
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 759
Page 4