BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1242|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1242
Author: Lara (D)
Amended: 3/28/16
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/12/16
AYES: Hancock, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
NOES: Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
SUBJECT: Sentencing: misdemeanors
SOURCE: California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles
Immigrant Legal Resource Center
Latino Coalition for Healthy Communities
Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund
DIGEST: This bill makes the law providing that one year is
defined as 364 days for the purposes of sentencing a misdemeanor
is retroactive.
ANALYSIS: Existing law provides that every offense which is
prescribed by any law of the state to be punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail up to or not exceeding one year
shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for period
not to exceed 364 days. (Penal Code § 18.5)
This bill clarifies that the above provision retroactive.
Background
SB 1242
Page 2
According to the author:
Two years ago SB 1310 (Lara, 2014) aligned the definition
of misdemeanor between state and federal law. Federal
law defines a misdemeanor crime as punishable for up to
364 days and anything longer is considered a felony.
Previously, California defined a misdemeanor as a crime
punishable for up to 365 days. The federal government
did not recognize California's definition due to this
minor and technical difference, thousands legal
residents, who committed low level and non-violent crimes
were subject to deportation, needlessly ripping apart
families.
While SB 1310 aligned state and federal law on a
prospective basis, it did not help those who were
convicted of a misdemeanor prior to 2015. Thousands of
legal residents are currently living in California with
the threat of deportation looming for minor crimes. Many
of those people have families and businesses in the state
and a few ties to their country of origin.
SB 1242 will provide on a retroactive basis that all
misdemeanors are punishable for no more than 364 days and
ensure that legal residents are not deported due to
previous discrepancies between state and federal law.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 4/14/16)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (co-source)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (co-source)
Immigrant Legal Resource Center (co-source)
Latino Coalition for Healthy Communities (co-source)
Los Angeles District Attorney's Office (co-source)
Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (co-source)
SB 1242
Page 3
A New PATH
All of Us or None
American Civil Liberties Union
American Friends Service Committee
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
California Civil Liberties Advocacy
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Labor Federation
California Public Defenders Association
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Canal Alliance
Center of Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Central American Resource Center
Centro Laboral de Graton
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Courage Campaign
Day Labor Center - Hayward/Oakland
Drug Policy Alliance
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Human Rights Watch
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay
Area
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
National Immigration Law Center
Pangea Legal Services
Project ALOFA
San Quentin Restorative Justice Program
Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color
Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office
Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network
Silicon Valley De-Bug
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
United Farm Workers
OPPOSITION: (Verified 4/14/16)
SB 1242
Page 4
None received
Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. /
4/15/16 14:10:37
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