BILL ANALYSIS
AB 114
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 114 (Carter)
As Introduced January 13, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 4-0 APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Furutani, Hill, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Davis, |
| |Skinner | |Fuentes, Hall, Jones, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, Audra Strickland |
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SUMMARY : Revises the objectives of the juvenile justice system
to include principles of restorative justice and authorizes
communities to adopt restorative justice programs, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)States legislative intent to incorporate principles of
restorative justice into juvenile justice proceedings.
Specifically:
a) Recognizes the following three restorative justice
principles:
i) Community protection through a continuum of
appropriate responses that protect citizens and
victims from the threat of delinquent minors' conduct;
ii) Accountability of the minor through
restoration of the losses by the victim and community;
and,
iii) Competency development of the minor through
treatment, education, and building the skills needed
for success in the community.
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b) States that the juvenile justice system should repair
crime-related injuries to the victim, the community, and
the offender. Victims and communities should be actively
involved throughout the process to the extent consistent
with the offender's right to due process and the rights of
the minor and victim, as specified.
c) States the fundamental intention of the Juvenile Court
Law that individualized care, treatment, and guidance be
provided to each minor involved in juvenile court.
2)Authorizes individual counties to adopt a restorative justice
program under the conditions that counties provide that:
a) The restorative justice program address the needs of
minors, victims, and the community.
b) The restorative justice programs follow a protocol,
developed by the juvenile court in conjunction with the
prosecutor, public defender, probation department, victims'
groups, law enforcement, community organizations, service
providers, restorative justice groups, and clinicians with
expertise in adolescent development. The protocol must
address:
i) The formation of a restorative justice council; and,
ii) The process to come before the council, the rights
of minors, confidentiality issues, timeliness for case
proceedings, the scope of services and orders imposed by
the council, the role of the courts, qualifications for
council members, a compliance evaluation process, and a
process for failure to comply.
c) The restorative justice program seek to repair the harm
to the victim, the minor, and the community. The program
shall be tailored to the age, mental capacity, and maturity
of the minor, the nature of the offense, and the resources
available to the minor.
d) Minors may be referred to the restorative justice
program by the court's order for informal supervision,
non-wardship probation, dispositional order, or order for
deferred entry of judgment.
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e) If the minor is placed in foster care under the
supervision of a probation officer, the minor may only be
referred to the restorative justice program if the
participation in the program is consistent with the minor's
foster care case plan, and reunification services between
the minor and his or her family; and, does not result in
the loss of federal financial participation for the minor's
placement.
f) No General Fund (GF) money shall be used to fund a
restorative justice program. A county must obtain funds
before establishing a program, and may apply to other
public and private entities for funding.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, no direct state or local costs. To the
extent a county opts to adopt a program, and to the extent the
proposed restorative justice objectives, which are generally
consistent with current juvenile justice system goals, result in
additional or improved programming, local juvenile justice
system costs (not state-reimbursable) could increase. The bill
specifies that no GF shall be used to fund a restorative justice
program established by this bill and that a county opting to
establish a restorative justice program shall apply to other
appropriate public and private entities for funding.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "I have introduced this
bill because I am deeply concerned about the youth in our
society. There needs to be a way to teach youth about the
consequences of their actions before they commit crimes that
land them in prison. I believe the programs described in this
bill will force California's youth to deal with their victims
and the consequences of their crimes, teaching them
responsibility and how to avoid future crimes. We need to find
more approaches to combating juvenile crime and this bill does
just that by promising care and rehabilitation to minors for
non-violent offenses."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan and Larry Yee / PUB. S. /
(916) 319-3744
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