BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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Bill No: SB 1143
Author: Mountjoy (R), et al
Amended: 9/12/95
Vote: 21
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SENATE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE COMMITTEE: 5-0, 4/25/95
AYES: Beverly, Campbell, Kopp, Polanco, Boatwright
NOT VOTING: Watson, Marks
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 13-0, 5/25/95
AYES: Johnston, Alquist, Calderon, Dills, Greene, Kelley,
Killea, Leonard, Leslie, Lewis, Mello, Mountjoy, Polanco
SENATE FLOOR: 32-0, 5/32/95
AYES: Alquist, Ayala, Beverly, Boatwright, Calderon,
Campbell, Costa, Dills, Greene, Hayden, Haynes, Hurtt,
Johannessen, Johnston, Kelley, Leonard, Leslie, Lewis,
Lockyer, Maddy, Mello, Monteith, Mountjoy, O'Connell,
Peace, Petris, Polanco, Rogers, Russell, Solis, Thompson,
Wright
NOT VOTING: Craven, Hughes, Johnson, Killea, Kopp, Marks,
Rosenthal, Watson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 70-1, 9/14/95
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SUBJECT: Sexually violent predators
SOURCE: City of Covina
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DIGEST: This bill makes various changes to existing law
relative to sexually violent predators.
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Assembly Amendments delete and recast the entire bill and
add coauthors. The intent of the bill remains the same.
ANALYSIS: Existing law sets forth specified punishments
for sex crimes, including, among others, rape, sodomy, oral
copulation, penetration with a foreign object, and lewd and
lascivious conduct.
This bill would provide that whenever the Director of
Corrections determines that an individual who is in custody
under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections,
and who is either serving a determinate sentence or whose
parole has been revoked, may be a sexually violent
predator, he or she shall, at least 6 months prior to that
individual's scheduled date for release from prison, refer
the person for evaluation and, under specified
circumstances, request that a petition for commitment be
filed, and the proceedings be handled, by either the
district attorney or the county counsel of the county in
which the person was convicted of the offense for which he
or she is under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Corrections. The bill would require the Department of
Corrections and the Board of Prison Terms to screen the
person based on whether the person has committed a sexually
violent predatory offense and on a review of the person's
social, criminal, and institutional history before
referring the person to the State Department of Mental
Health for a full evaluation.
This bill would set forth procedures and standards for the
review of the petition for commitment and would provide
that a person who is the subject of the petition is
entitled to a trial by jury, the assistance of counsel, the
right to retain experts or professional persons to perform
an examination on his or her behalf, and access to all
relevant medical and psychological records and reports.
This bill would require a court or jury to determine
whether, beyond a reasonable doubt, the person is a
sexually violent predator. If the court or jury is not
satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the person is a
sexually violent predator, the court would be required to
direct that the person be released at the conclusion of the
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term for which he or she was initially sentenced, or that
the person be unconditionally released at the end of
parole. If the court or jury determines that the person is
a sexually violent predator, the person would be committed
for 2 years to the custody of the State Department of
Mental Health for appropriate treatment and confinement in
a secure facility designated by the Director of Mental
Health that is located on the grounds of an institution
under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections
until his or her diagnosed mental disorder has so changed
that he or she is not likely to commit an act of sexual
violence.
This bill would require annual evaluations of those
individuals committed as sexually violent predators.
The bill also would set forth procedures and standards for
requesting and hearing petitions for conditional and
unconditional release.
The bill contains the following definitions:
1."Sexually violent predator" means a person who has been
convicted of a sexually violent offense against two or
more victims for which he or she received a determinate
sentence and who has a diagnosed mental disorder that
makes the person a danger to the health and safety of
others in that it is likely that he or she will engage in
sexually violent criminal behavior.
Conviction of one or more specified crimes shall
constitute evidence that may support a court or jury
determination that a person is a sexually violent
predator, but shall not be the sole basis for the
determination. Jurors shall be admonished that they may
not find a person a sexually violent predator based on
prior offenses absent relevant evidence of a currently
diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger
to the health and safety of others in that it is likely
that he or she will engage in sexually violent criminal
behavior.
2."Sexually violent offense" means specified acts when
committed by force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of
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immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or
another person, and that are committed on, before, or
after the effective date of this article and result in a
conviction and a determinate sentence: specified
felonies including, but not limited to, sodomy or oral
copulation.
3."Diagnosed mental disorder" includes a congenital or
acquired condition affecting the emotional or volitional
capacity that predisposes the person to the commission of
criminal sexual acts in a degree constituting the person
a menace to the health and safety of others.
4."Danger to the health and safety of others" does not
require proof of a recent overt act while the offender is
in custody.
5."Predatory" means an act is directed toward a stranger or
individual with whom a relationship has been established
or promoted for the primary purpose of victimization.
6."Recent overt act" means any criminal act that manifests
a likelihood that the actor may engage in sexually
violent predatory criminal behavior.
Prior Legislation
SB 41X (Presley) of 1994 passed the Senate 33-3 (noes:
Alquist, Marks and Petris) but failed passage in the
Assembly Public Safety Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 5/30/95) (Unable to reverify Support
and Opposition at time of this writing)
City of Covina (source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, Inc.
Attorney General
Cities of Arcadia, Baldwin Park, Claremont, Duarte ,
Glendora, LaVerne, LaHabra Heights, Monrovia, and Pasadena
Committee on Moral Concerns
Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau
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Justice for Murder Victims
Law and Order Committee of the California Peace Officers'
Association
Los Angeles County Police Chiefs' Association
Office of Criminal Justice Planning
Police Departments of Claremont, El Monte, Irwindale,
Pasadena, Pomona, Redding, San Gabriel, San Marino, West
Covina and Whittier
Protect Our Children
Tyler's Love Continues
OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/30/95)
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the authoros office,
under current law there is no legal authority to detain and
treat sexually violent offenders who are likely to commit
new offenses because of their mental abnormality and
defects. There is no procedure to prevent the release into
unsuspecting communities of sexually violent offenders who
have completed their prison sentences. This bill
establishes civil commitment procedures for the placement
and treatment of sexually violent offenders in a secure
mental health facility following their release from prison.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The American Civil Liberties
Union state they oppose this bill on both policy and
constitutional grounds:
"This wide sweeping legislation permits the state to
indefinitely confine in mental facilities individuals who
have committed sexually motivated crimes based on perceived
fears that these persons will commit future crimes. This
bill is essentially a preventive detention scheme based on
allegations of future dangerousness, and as such violates
substantive due process of law.
"Pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in
Foucha v. Louisiana, the state must prove an individual is
both mentally ill and dangerous before the person can be
involuntarily committed. SB 1143 fails to meet this
minimal requirement in that a "sexually violent predator"
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as defined in the statute does not apply to a group of
persons who are mentally ill. As the Supreme Court noted
in Foucha: 'The State asserts that because Foucha once
committed a criminal act and now has an antisocial
personality that sometimes leads to aggressive conduct, a
disorder for which there is no effective treatment, he may
be held indefinitely. This rationale would permit the
State to hold indefinitely any other insanity acquittee not
mentally ill who could be shown to have a personality
disorder that may lead to criminal conduct. The same would
be true of any convicted criminal, even though he has
completed his prison term.'"
ASSEMBLY FLOOR:
AYES: Ackerman, Aguiar, Alby, Allen, Alpert,
Archie-Hudson, Baca, Baldwin, Battin, Boland, Bordonaro,
Bowen, Bowler, Brewer, V. Brown, Brulte, Burton,
Bustamante, Caldera, Conroy, Cortese, Cunneen, Davis,
Ducheny, Figueroa, Firestone, Friedman, Frusetta,
Gallegos, Goldsmith, Granlund, Hannigan, Harvey, Hauser,
Hawkins, House, Kaloogian, Katz, Knight, Knowles, Knox,
Kuehl, Kuykendall, Machado, Margett, Martinez, Mazzoni,
McPherson, Miller, Morrissey, Morrow, K. Murray, W.
Murray, Napolitano, Olberg, Poochigian, Pringle, Rainey,
Richter, Rogan, Speier, Sweeney, Takasugi, Thompson,
Tucker, Vasconcellos, Villaraigosa, Weggeland, Woods,
Setencich
NOES: Isenberg
NOT VOTING: Bates, W. Brown, Campbell, Cannella, Escutia,
Hoge, Lee, McDonald, Sher
CONTINUED
RJG:lm 9/15/95 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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