BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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                                UNFINISHED BUSINESS 


          Bill No:  SB 1242
          Author:   Lara (D) 
          Amended:  8/11/16  
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:  5-1, 4/12/16
           AYES:  Hancock, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning
           NOES:  Stone
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Anderson

           SENATE FLOOR:  31-8, 4/21/16
           AYES:  Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Block, Cannella, De León,  
            Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill,  
            Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire,  
            Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Nguyen, Pan, Pavley, Roth,  
            Wieckowski, Wolk
           NOES:  Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen,  
            Stone, Vidak
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  52-21, 8/15/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Sentencing:  misdemeanors


           SOURCE:    California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
                      Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights LA
                      Immigrant Legal Resource Center
                      Latino Coalition for Healthy Communities
                      Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
                      Mexican American Legal Defense Fund


          
          DIGEST:   This bill retroactively applies the provision of law  








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          defining one year as 364 days for the purposes of sentencing.  


          Assembly Amendments make technical changes and clarify that a  
          person sentenced prior to the effective date of Penal Code  
          Section 18.5 may file a motion with the trial court to have the  
          term of sentenced modified.


          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:  


          1)States that the reduced sentence applies to all convictions  
            entered before January 1, 2015, even final judgments.


          2)Provides that a person previously sentenced to one year in  
            county jail may submit an application in the trial court  
            requesting to be resentenced to a period not to exceed 364  
            days.


          Background


          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  








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             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:   (Verified8/15/16)


          California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (co-source)
          Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights LA (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)
          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








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                                                                    Page  4



          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
          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:   (Verified8/15/16)


          None received

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  52-21, 8/15/16
           AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,  
            Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu,  
            Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina  
            Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,  
            Hadley, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,  
            McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond,  
            Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon








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           NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Beth  
            Gaines, Gatto, Grove, Harper, Irwin, Jones, Mathis, Mayes,  
            Melendez, Obernolte, Patterson, Salas, Steinorth, Wagner,  
            Waldron, Wilk
           NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooper, Dahle, Gallagher, Roger Hernández,  
            Linder, Maienschein, Olsen





          Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. / 
          8/19/16 20:05:00


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