BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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                                UNFINISHED BUSINESS 


          Bill No:  SB 759
          Author:   Anderson (R) and Hancock (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/1/16  
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:  6-1, 4/28/15
           AYES:  Hancock, Anderson, Leno, Liu, McGuire, Monning
           NOES:  Stone

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  5-1, 5/28/15
           AYES:  Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
           NOES:  Nielsen
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bates

           SENATE FLOOR:  29-7, 6/3/15
           AYES:  Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, De  
            León, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez,  
            Hertzberg, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire,  
            Mendoza, Monning, Moorlach, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Wieckowski,  
            Wolk
           NOES:  Fuller, Huff, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Stone, Vidak
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cannella, Hueso, Mitchell, Runner

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  41-31, 8/4/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Prisoners:  segregation housing


          SOURCE:    Friends Committee on Legislation of California


          DIGEST:  This bill requires the California Department of  
          Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish regulations  
          to allow specified inmates placed in segregated housing to earn  
          credits, as specified.








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          Assembly Amendments deleted reference to "Security Housing Unit,  
          Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral Management Unit, or an  
          Administrative Segregation Unit" and, instead refers to the  
          units as "segregation housing".


          ANALYSIS:   

          Existing law: 

          1)Creates in state government the California Department of  
            Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), to be headed by a  
            secretary, who shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to  
            Senate confirmation, and shall serve at the pleasure of the  
            Governor.  (Government Code § 12838.)  CDCR shall consist of  
            Adult Operations, Adult Programs, Health Care Services,  
            Juvenile Justice, the Board of Parole Hearings, the State  
            Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Prison Industry Authority,  
            and the Prison Industry Board.  (Id.)  

          2)Allows CDCR to place an inmate in the Security Housing Unit  
            (SHU) if the inmate has been deemed a threat to the safety of  
            others or the security of the institution.  (15 CCR 3341.5.)   
            Under existing regulations, inmates can be assigned to the SHU  
            for a determinate or indeterminate term.  (Id.)   An inmate  
            who has been validated as a gang member can be placed in the  
            SHU for an indeterminate term.  (Id.)

          3)States that a person who is placed in a SHU, Psychiatric  
            Services Unit (PSU), Behavioral Management Unit (BMU), or an  
            Administrative Segregation Unit for specified misconduct or  
            upon validation as a prison gang member or associate is  
            ineligible to earn credits pursuant to Section 2933 or 2933.05  
            during the time he or she is in the SHU, Psychiatric Services  
            Unit, Behavioral Management Unit, or the Administrative  
            Segregation Unit for that misconduct, as specified.  (Penal  
            Code § 2933.6.)

          This bill repeals the existing credit provisions and instead  
          authorizes CDCR to establish regulations to allow specified  








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          inmates placed in segregation housing to earn credits during the  
          time he or she is in segregation housing.

          Background
           
           On October 9, 2013, the Assembly and Senate Public Safety  
          Committees held an informational hearing on California's prison  
          segregation policies.  The committees heard from representatives  
          from CDCR and the Office of the Inspector General, experts,  
          advocates and even individuals who had been housed in the SHU.   
          Among the experts was Margaret Winter, the head of the American  
          Civil Liberties Union prison project, she: 


               [T]old lawmakers the tide is turning nationally when  
               it comes to use of isolation in prisons. 


               "Every reputable study has found negative effects,"  
               Winter said, noting that when she helped the  
               Mississippi Department of Corrections reduce its use  
               of isolation, prison violence actually went down.

               Asked for alternative methods for dealing with inmates  
               who pose a danger to other inmates or staff, Winter  
               said segregation can be an effective short-term tool,  
               if paired with incentives to change behavior.  Most  
               prison systems simply let inmates languish in  
               isolation without even determining if they're still a  
               threat, Winter said.

          (Legislators Hear Testimony on California Prison Conditions in  
          Isolation, Rina Palta, Southern California Public Radio, October  
          9, 2013. http://www.scpr.org/  
          news/2013/10/09/39735/ca-legislature-to-hold-hearing-on-condition 
          s-in-pr/.) 
          
          On February 11, 2014, another joint informational hearing was  
          held to discuss CDCR's new policies and the impact that the  
          policy has had on the SHU population.  Committee members heard  
          from CDCR representatives, experts and attorneys who represent  
          SHU inmates.  Hope Metcalf, Associate Research Scholar in Law,  








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          Director of Arthur Liman Program, and Lecturer in Law, Yale Law  
          School, stated in the hearing: 

               [T]he basic bottom line is that staff and inmates must  
               feel safe and prisons do need tools to shape behavior.  
                I don't think that there's much dispute about that.  
               And in fact, some forms of short-term segregation may  
               be necessary and there may indeed be some portions of  
               the population for whom placement in the general  
               population is not appropriate.  However, that does not  
               translate in any sense to the fact that long-term  
               isolation of the ilk that we see at Pelican Bay is in  
               fact serving sound, public policy. 

               So given the overreliance on isolation, many prisons  
               are at best delaying problems, and, in fact, may be  
               aggravating them.  So I do not wish to say that most  
               people released from long-term isolation are  
               dangerous.  I have many, many clients who have left  
               isolation and they have gone on to do well.  However,  
               I do think that if we're talking about public safety,  
               thinking about outcomes, including recidivism is  
               important.  Equally important of course in terms of  
               outcomes is not just whether or not someone is  
               violent, but whether they are able to flourish and  
               become independent once they leave.  So the fear  
               is-one fear I've had-is even where outcomes don't show  
               for example violence, is that person able to hold a  
               job or are they now so debilitated that they are  
               reduced to relying on state support once they leave  
               prison?
                
          (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's  
          Proposed New Policies on Inmate Segregation: The Promise and  
          Imperative of Real Reform, Hearing Transcript, Assembly and  
          Senate Public Safety Committees Joint Informational Hearing,  
          February 11, 2014. http://spsf.senate.ca.gov/sites  
          /spsf.senate.ca.gov/files/Jt.%20Hearing%20Transcript%202-11-14.pd 
          f.)

          In summary, this hearing highlighted the widely held principle  
          that while short term segregation is an important tool, long  








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          term segregation can have a detrimental impact not only on  
          inmates but also on overall public safety. 

          Under existing law, a person who is placed in segregation  
          housing is ineligible to earn credits.  This bill seeks to allow  
          these inmates to earn good time credits.
          
          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No

          According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis, the  
          fiscal impact includes: 

          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. 




          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/4/16)


          Friends Committee on Legislation of California (source)
          American Civil Liberties Union of California
          American Friends Service Committee
          California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
          California Public Defenders Association
          Californians United for a Responsible Budget
          Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
          Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
          National Religious Campaign Against Torture
          Youth Justice Coalition
          1 Individual


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/4/16)


          None received








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          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  41-31, 8/4/16

          AYES:  Achadjian, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke,  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Dababneh, Dodd, Eggman,  
            Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez,  
            Gonzalez, Gordon, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez,  
            Low, McCarty, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber,  
            Wood, Rendon
          NOES:  Travis Allen, Arambula, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,  
            Cooper, Dahle, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Gray, Grove,  
            Hadley, Harper, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis,  
            Mayes, Medina, Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Salas,  
            Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk, Williams
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alejo, Chávez, Cooley, Daly, Roger Hernández,  
            Jones, Olsen, Rodriguez


          Prepared by:Jessica  Devencenzi / PUB. S. / 
          8/5/16 10:20:14


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