BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 966
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2016
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
SB
966 (Mitchell) - As Amended June 1, 2016
SUMMARY: Limits the current three year enhancement for prior
conviction of specified controlled substance offenses to
convictions for the manufacture of a controlled substance, or
using or employing a minor in the commission of specified
controlled substance offenses.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Classifies controlled substances in five schedules according
to their danger and potential for abuse. Schedule I
controlled substances have the greatest restrictions and
penalties, including prohibiting the prescribing of a Schedule
I controlled substance. (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 11054 to
11058.)
2)Provides that any person convicted of, or conspiracy to commit
the sale, furnishing, transportation, or possession for sale
of cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, or other specified
controlled substances shall, in addition to any other
punishment, receive a full, separate, and consecutive three
year term of imprisonment in a county jail for each prior
conviction for sale, possession for sale, manufacturing,
possession with the intent to manufacture specified controlled
substances, or using a minor in the commission of specified
controlled substance offenses. (Health & Saf. Code, §
11370.2, subd. (a).)
3)Provides that any person convicted of, or conspiracy to commit
the sale, possession for sale, the manufacture, possession
with the intent to manufacture PCP, or using a minor in the
commission of specified offenses related to PCP shall, in
addition to any other punishment , receive a full, separate,
and consecutive three year term of imprisonment in a county
jail for each prior conviction for sale, possession for sale,
manufacturing, possession with the intent to manufacture
specified controlled substances, or using a minor in the
commission of specified controlled substance offenses.
(Health & Saf. Code, § 11370.2, subd. (a).)
4)Provides that every person that transports, imports into the
state, sells, furnishes, administers, or gives away, or offers
to transport, import into the state, sell, furnish, or give
away, or attempts to import into this state or transport
cocaine, cocaine base, or heroin, or other specified
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controlled substances listed in the controlled substance
schedule, without a written prescription from a licensed
physician, dentist, podiatrist, or veterinarian shall be
punished by imprisonment for three, four, or five years.
(Health & Saf. Code, § 11352, subd. (a).)
5)States, except as provided, that every person who possesses
for sale or purchases for purposes of sale any of the
specified controlled substances, including cocaine and heroin,
shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for two,
three, or four years. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11351.)
6)Provides that every person that transports, imports into the
state, sells, furnishes, administers, or gives away, or offers
to transport, import into the state, sell, furnish, or give
away, or attempts to import into this state or transport
methamphetamine, or other specified controlled substances
listed in the controlled substance schedule, without a written
prescription from a licensed physician, dentist, podiatrist,
or veterinarian shall be punished by imprisonment for two,
three, or four years. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379, subd.
(a).)
7)States that the possession for sale of methamphetamine, and
other specified controlled substances is punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or two or three
years. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11378.)
8)Provides that any person who manufactures, compounds,
converts, produces, derives, processes, or prepares specified
controlled substances is guilty of a felony, punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison for three, five or seven
years. (Health & Saf. Code, § 11379.6.)
9)Any person who possesses specified chemicals with the intent
to manufacture methamphetamine or PCP shall be punished by
two, four, or six years in state prison. (Health & Saf. Code,
§ 11383.)
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, " SB 966 would
begin undoing the damage of the failed War on Drugs. Long
sentences that were central to the drug war strategy - driven
by mandatory sentences like the enhancement SB 966 will repeal
- utterly failed to reduce drug availability or the number of
people harmed in the illicit drug market. Controlled
substances are now cheaper and more widely available than ever
before, despite a massive investment of tax revenue and human
lives in an unprecedented build-up and fill-up of prisons and
jails that have devastated low-income communities of color.
"By amending the sentencing enhancement for prior non-violent
drug convictions, this bill will improve public safety and
community well-being, reduce racial disparities in the
criminal justice system, and allow public funds to be invested
in community-based programs instead of costly jail expansion.
"SB966 would address extreme sentences. Enhancements result in
sentences being far more severe than is just, sensible, or
effective. Under current law, a person may face two to four
years in jail for possessing drugs for sale under the base
sentence. But if the person has two prior convictions for
possession for sale, they would face an additional six years
in jail - for a total of ten years. As of 2014, there were
more than 1,700 people in California jails sentenced to more
than five years. The leading cause of these long sentences was
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non-violent drug sale offenses.
"SB 966 would reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice
system. Although rates of drug use and sales are comparable
across racial lines, people of color are far more likely to be
stopped, searched, arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and
incarcerated for drug law violations than are whites. Research
also shows that prosecutors are twice as likely to pursue a
mandatory minimum sentence for Blacks as for whites charged
with the same offense.
"SB 966 would help restore balance in the judicial process.
Prosecutors use enhancements as leverage to extract guilty
pleas, even from the innocent. Prosecutors threaten to use
enhancements to significantly increase the punishment
defendants would face should they exercise their right to a
trial. According to Human Rights Watch, "plea agreements have
for all intents and purposes become an offer drug defendants
cannot afford to refuse."
"SB 966 will stop the cruel punishment of persons suffering
from a substance abuse disorder. People who suffer untreated
substance abuse disorders often sell drugs to pay for the
drugs that their illness compels them to consume. It is
fundamentally unjust, as well as counterproductive, to put a
sick person in jail to address behaviors better handled in a
medical or treatment setting."
2)Background: The enhancement for prior drug crime convictions
was enacted through AB 2320 (Condit), Chapter 1398, Statutes
of 1985). The bill included legislative intent "to punish
more severely those persons who are in the regular business of
trafficking in, or production of, narcotics and those persons
who deal in large quantities of narcotics as opposed to
individuals who have a less serious, occasional, or relatively
minor role in this activity."
The bill - called "The Dealer Statute" - was sponsored by the
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Los Angeles District Attorney and also included enhancements
based on the weight of the drug involved in specified drug
commerce crime. The sponsor explained that the bill was
modeled on particularly harsh federal drug crime laws. The
sponsor argued that the bill was necessary to eliminate an
incentive for persons "to traffic [in drugs] in California
where sentences are significantly lighter than in federal
law." The federal laws to which the sponsor referred were
those enacted in the expansion of the war against drugs during
the Reagan administration. These laws included reduced
judicial discretion through mandatory minimum sentences. The
current administration has begun to pull back on some of the
harshest policies and Congress has passed some sentence
reductions, most notably reducing the disparity between
cocaine powder crimes and cocaine base crimes.
3)Argument in Support: According to the American Civil
Liberties Union, "SB 966 will repeal the harsh three-year
enhancement for prior nonviolent drug offenses. The
enhancement, which has failed to protect communities or reduce
the availability of drugs, but has crippled state and local
budgets and contributed to jail and prison overcrowding, is
one of the many enhancements overdue for repeal.
"Sentence enhancements based on prior convictions target the
poorest and most marginalized people in our communities:
those with substance use and mental health needs, and those
who, after prior contact with police or imprisonment, have
struggled to reintegrate into society. These and other long
sentences, central to the war on drugs, have utterly failed to
reduce drug availability or protect people harmed in the
illicit drug market, yet they have devastated low-income
communities of color, broken up families, and disrupted lives
in California and across the country. Despite significant
financial investments in criminal prosecutions and
imprisonment, controlled substances are now cheaper and more
widely available than ever before, and our communities are no
safer.
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"As a result of California's lengthy sentences, including
enhancements like the ones addressed by SB 966, counties
around the state are building new jails to imprison people
with long sentences. Since 2007, California has spent $2.2
billion on county jail construction, not including the costs
borne by the counties for construction and increased staffing,
or the state's debt service for high-interest loans. Sheriffs
have argued for this expansion by pointing to their growing
jail populations, particularly people with long sentences and
with mental health and substance us needs. However, jail
expansion has not improved public safety and has instead
funneled money away from the community-based programs and
services that have proven to successfully reduce crime.
"By reducing sentences for people with prior drug convictions,
SB 966 will allow state and county funds to instead be
invested in programs and services that meet community needs
and improve public safety, including community-based mental
health and substance use treatment, job programs, and
affordable housing. SB 966 will ease overcrowding in our
county jails, making them safer for inmates and jail staff
alike. And lastly, SB 966 will start to undo the state's
shameful legacy of archaic drug laws that have been used to
target communities of color for decades."
4)Argument in Opposition: According to the Office of the San
Diego County District Attorney, "Currently, the Office of
National Drug Control Policy reports our nation is in the
grips of an opioid epidemic, and California is not immune. In
2013, California hospitals treated more than 11,500 patients
suffering an opioid or heroin overdose; this is about one
overdose every 45 minutes. Now is not the time to reduce
penalties for sales and trafficking of opioids. Other states
are actually increasing the penalties for trafficking in
certain opioids. Legislation aimed at funding educational and
prevention programs to reduce the current opioid addiction
epidemic would better serve all Californians.
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"SB 966 repeals the current three year sentence enhancement for
defendants convicted of specified drug sales and possession
for sale crimes who have prior convictions for drug sales or
possession for sale offenses. The scenario we will face is
one where a defendant with multiple convictions for drug sales
or possession for sale, or drug manufacturing offenses would
be treated the same as a first time offender. This would
include reducing the sentences for those who knowingly
manufacture "Norco" pills laced with fentanyl, an opiate about
100 times stronger than heroin. The first time offender may
need education or treatment for opioid addiction, while the
defendant with multiple convictions for sales should receive
punishment.
"Heroin addiction has spiked in recent years, especially for
counties along the U.S. - Mexico border. In 2014, more than
300 San Diegans died from heroin overdoses, and the
percentages of men and women booked into county jail who
tested positive for heroin or other opiates were the highest
since tracking began in 2000. The problem is severe enough
locally that patrol deputies in the San Diego Sheriff's
Department are now equipped to administer a drug that
counteracts the effects of heroin and other opioids. Overall,
experts say heroin use in San Diego County is at its highest
rate in 15 years. Experts say the resurgent heroin epidemic
stems in part from doctors' over-prescription of legal opioid
pain killers such as Oxycodone or its time release cousin,
OxyContin. When addicts can no longer afford, or find these
particularly addictive over-the-counter drugs, they move on to
heroin. Drug cartels are taking notice of the demand and in
2014, law enforcement agencies in the U.S. seized triple the
amount of heroin confiscated in 2009. SB 966 will allow these
drug dealers to escape the additional punishment they
deserve."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
American Civil Liberties Union of California (Co-sponsor)
Drug Policy Alliance (Co-sponsor)
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (Co-sponsor)
A New Path
A New Way of Life Reentry Project
ACCE Action
Alameda County Public Defender
Alliance for Mena and boys of Color
American Friends Service Committee
Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network
Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association
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Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Bay Area Black Worker Center
Bay Area Community Resource Workforce Development
Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
Black Women Organized for Political Action
California Association for Alcohol and Drug Program Executives,
Inc.
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Partnership
California Prison Moratorium Project
California Public Defenders Association
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California State Conference of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
Californians for Safety and Justice
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Center for Employment Opportunity
Center for Health Justice
Center for Living and Learning
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Centro Legal de la Raza
Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights for Los Angeles
Communities United for Restorative Justice
Community Works
Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office
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Courage Campaign
Critical Resistance Los Angeles
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
Enlace
Essie Justice Group
Felony Murder Elimination Project
Filipino Bar Association of California
Forward Together
Four Private Citizens
Friends Committee on legislation California
Harm Reduction Services
Health Communities, Inc.
HealthRIGHT 360
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HIV Education & Prevention Program of Alameda County
Holman United Methodist Church
Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice
Islamic Shura Council of southern California
John Gioia, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
Justice Not Jails
Justice Policy Institute
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Los Angeles Community Action Network
Los Angeles County Public Defender
Marijuana Lifer Project
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Mayor of the City of Richmond
Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Mortgage Personnel Services
Motivating Individual Leadership for Public Advancement (MILPA)
National Association of Public Defense
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Center for Youth Law
National Council on La Raza
National Employment Law Project
Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution
Oakland Rising
Orange County Needle Exchange Group
Poetic Knights I.N.C.
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Presente.org
Prison Activist Resource Center
Prison Law Office
Prison Policy Initiative
Project Inform
Reentry Solutions Group
Reentry Success Center
Reform California
Resource Center for Nonviolence
Riverside Temple Beth El
Root & Rebound
Rubicon Programs
S.T.O.P. Hepatitis Task-Force
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Safe Return Project
San Diego Organizing Project
San Francisco Public Defender
Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism
Silicon Valley De-Bug
Social Justice Learning Institute
Starting Over, Inc.
Swords to Plowshares
Tarzana Treatment Centers, Inc.
TGI Justice Project
The Sentencing Project
Time for Change Foundation
Time For Change Foundation
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Underground Scholars Initiative, UC Berkeley
Unite Here, Local 2850
W. Haywood Burns Institute
Western Regional Advocacy Project
Women's Council of the California Chapter of the National
Association of Social Workers
Women's Foundation of California
Young Women's Freedom Center
Opposition
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Association of Deputy District Attorneys
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
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California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California District Attorneys Association
California Narcotics Officers Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Law Enforcement Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
Fraternal Order of Police, California State Lodge
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Office of the San Diego District Attorney
Peace Research Association of California
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Riverside Sheriffs Association
Sacramento Deputy Sheriffs Association
San Diego County District Attorney's Office
Analysis Prepared by:Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744