BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1016
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1016
(Monning) - As Introduced February 11, 2016
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|Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill extends the sunset date from January 1, 2017, to
January 1, 2022, for provisions of law which provide that the
court shall, in its discretion, impose the term or enhancement
that best serves the interest of justice.
FISCAL EFFECT:
SB 1016
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Unknown annual GF increase or decrease to the extent this
measure results in longer or shorter prison terms. While it is
unlikely this bill will significantly alter current sentencing
patterns, even a minor increase in the number of offenders
deviating from the middle term drives significant costs or
savings, given the large base of offenders. However, the fiscal
impact of extending the sentencing provisions is unclear because
the costs are determined by the behavior and decisions of
individual judges in sentencing hearings
COMMENTS:
Background/Purpose. In 2007, the Supreme Court of the United
States ruled in the Cunningham v. California decision that
California's determinate sentencing statutes violated the Sixth
Amendment and were therefore unconstitutional. The determinate
sentencing scheme, in place since the 1970's, allowed the courts
with a three-tiered sentencing option consisting of a higher,
more-severe term, a middle term, and a lower, less-severe term.
The legislative fix put in place by SB 40 (Romero), Chapter 7,
Statutes of 2007, included a sunset date which has been extended
and approved by the Legislature through four different bills,
almost all of which received no opposition votes by members of
the Legislature. The current determinate sentencing laws will
sunset on January 1, 2017, and if the sunset date is not
extended, California's entire sentencing scheme will become
unconstitutional once again.
SB 1016 will extend the sunset to January 1, 2022, and continue
to allow the choice of which of the three determinate sentencing
options apply to an offender to rest within the sound discretion
of the court.
SB 1016
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Analysis Prepared by:Pedro r. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081