BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Mark Leno, Chair A
2009-2010 Regular Session B
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AB 870 (Huber)
As Amended April 13, 2009
Hearing date: June 16, 2009
Penal Code
SM:mc
DANGEROUS WEAPONS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS
HISTORY
Source: Los Angeles County District Attorney
Prior Legislation: AB 2470 (Karnette) - Chap. 676, Stats. of
2008
AB 229 (Strickland) - 2007, gutted and amended to
address another subject.
AB 2537 (Montanez) - 2006, held in Senate
Appropriations Committee
Support: California State PTA; San Joaquin County Sheriff; Peace
Officers Research Association of California (PORAC);
California School Employees Association; California
State Sheriff's Association; California Peace Officers'
Association; California Police Chiefs Association;
Chief Probation Officers of California; California
District Attorneys Association; California Association
of School Business Officials (CASBO)
Opposition:California Public Defenders Association
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 74 - Noes 0
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KEY ISSUE
SHOULD THE PENAL CODE BE AMENDED TO SPECIFICALLY PROHIBIT THE
POSSESSION OF ANY RAZOR BLADE OR BOX CUTTER ON THE GROUNDS OF ANY
K-12 SCHOOL, WITH SPECIFIED EXCEPTIONS?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to make it a misdemeanor, punishable
by up to one year in the county jail, to bring or possess a
razor blade or a box cutter, upon the grounds of, or within, any
public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten
or any of grades 1 to 12, except as specified.
Current law provides that any person, except as specified, who
brings or possesses any dirk, dagger, ice pick, knife having a
blade longer than two- and one-half inches, folding knife with a
locking blade, razor with an unguarded blade, taser or stun gun,
an instrument that expels a metallic projectile such as a BB or
pellet through the use of air pressure, CO2 pressure or spring
action, or any spot marker gun upon the grounds of, or within,
any public or private school providing instruction in
kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, is guilty of a public
offense, punishable by imprisonment in county jail not to exceed
one year or by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, 2
or 3 years. (Penal Code 626.10(a).)
Current law states that the above prohibitions do not apply to
any person who brings a knife, as specified, or a razor with an
unguarded blade upon the grounds of specified schools and
universities at the direction of a faculty member of the private
university, state university, or community college, or a
certificated or classified employee of the school, for use in a
school-sponsored activity or class, or for a lawful purpose
within the scope of the person's employment. (Penal Code
626.10(c) through (e).)
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Current law defines "dirk" or "dagger" means a knife or other
instrument with or without a hand guard that is capable of ready
use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or
death. (Penal Code 626.10(h).)
This bill provides that any person, except as provided, who
brings or possesses a razor blade or a box cutter, upon the
grounds of, or within, any public or private school providing
instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year.
This bill provides that this prohibition would not apply to any
person who brings or possesses a razor blade or box cutter upon
the grounds of the specified schools:
at the direction of a certificated or classified
employee of the school for use in a school-sponsored
activity or class;
for a lawful purpose within the scope of the person's
employment; or
if the person has the written permission of the school
principal or his or her designee.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
California continues to face a severe prison overcrowding
crisis. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
currently has about 170,000 inmates under its jurisdiction. Due
to a lack of traditional housing space available, the department
houses roughly 15,000 inmates in gyms and dayrooms.
California's prison population has increased by 125% (an average
of 4% annually) over the past 20 years, growing from 76,000
inmates to 171,000 inmates, far outpacing the state's population
growth rate for the age cohort with the highest risk of
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incarceration.<1>
In December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against
CDCR sought a court-ordered limit on the prison population
pursuant to the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On
February 9, 2009, the three-judge federal court panel issued a
tentative ruling that included the following conclusions with
respect to overcrowding:
No party contests that California's prisons are
overcrowded, however measured, and whether considered
in comparison to prisons in other states or jails
within this state. There are simply too many
prisoners for the existing capacity. The Governor,
the principal defendant, declared a state of emergency
in 2006 because of the "severe overcrowding" in
California's prisons, which has caused "substantial
risk to the health and safety of the men and women who
work inside these prisons and the inmates housed in
them." . . . A state appellate court upheld the
Governor's proclamation, holding that the evidence
supported the existence of conditions of "extreme
peril to the safety of persons and property."
(citation omitted) The Governor's declaration of the
state of emergency remains in effect to this day.
. . . the evidence is compelling that there is no
relief other than a prisoner release order that will
remedy the unconstitutional prison conditions.
. . .
Although the evidence may be less than perfectly
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<1> "Between 1987 and 2007, California's population of ages 15
through 44 - the age cohort with the highest risk for
incarceration - grew by an average of less than 1% annually,
which is a pace much slower than the growth in prison
admissions." (2009-2010 Budget Analysis Series, Judicial and
Criminal Justice, Legislative Analyst's Office (January 30,
2009).)
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clear, it appears to the Court that in order to
alleviate the constitutional violations California's
inmate population must be reduced to at most 120% to
145% of design capacity, with some institutions or
clinical programs at or below 100%. We caution the
parties, however, that these are not firm figures and
that the Court reserves the right - until its final
ruling - to determine that a higher or lower figure is
appropriate in general or in particular types of
facilities.
. . .
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Under the PLRA, any prisoner release order that we
issue will be narrowly drawn, extend no further than
necessary to correct the violation of constitutional
rights, and be the least intrusive means necessary to
correct the violation of those rights. For this
reason, it is our present intention to adopt an order
requiring the State to develop a plan to reduce the
prison population to 120% or 145% of the prison's
design capacity (or somewhere in between) within a
period of two or three years.<2>
The final outcome of the panel's tentative decision, as well as
any appeal that may be in response to the panel's final
decision, is unknown at the time of this writing.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis outlined above.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
AB 870 closes a loophole in current law regarding prohibitions
on the possession of weapons on school campuses by
specifically adding razor blades and box cutters to the list
of prohibited weapons.
Violence in our schools has undoubtedly become all too common
of an occurrence. Several instances of attacks with weapons
in recent years have put students, teachers, parents and
school campus staff on alert for the next tragic attack.
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<2> Three Judge Court Tentative Ruling, Coleman v.
Schwarzenegger, Plata v. Schwarzenegger, in the United States
District Courts for the Eastern District of California and the
Northern District of California United States District Court
composed of three judges pursuant to Section 2284, Title 28
United States Code (Feb. 9, 2009).
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Every school should be a safe learning environment where no
one has to worry about the threat of violence.
Recognizing this, current law (Penal Code 626.10(a))
identifies the list of weapons that are prohibited from being
in someone's possession on school campuses, which includes a
"razor with an unguarded blade." Recent court decisions
interpreting what constitutes a "razor with an unguarded
blade" have found that the possession of a single razor blade
or the possession of a box cutter is not prohibited by this
statute.
2. Box Cutters Described
A utility knife (called also a box cutter or a razor blade
knife) is a common tool used in various trades and crafts for a
variety of purposes. Such a knife generally consists of a
simple and cheap holder, typically flat, approximately one-inch
(25 mm) wide and three- to four-inches (75 to 100 mm) long, and
typically made of either metal or plastic. Some use standard
razor blades, others specialized double-ended blades as in the
illustration. The user can manually adjust how far the blade
extends from the handle so that, for example, the knife can be
used to cut the tape sealing a package without damaging the
contents of the package. When the blade becomes dull, the blade
can be quickly reversed or switched for a new one. Spare blades
are often stored in the hollow knife handle, and can be accessed
by removing a screw and opening the handle. This type of tool
is known in British English, Australian English and New Zealand
English as a Stanley knife, after one of the first manufacturers
to create this kind of implement. The genuine Stanley knife has
a cast-metal body, and comes both in retractable versions and in
fixed blade versions which allow no depth adjustment. There
have been a number of versions of the classic retractable
Stanley No. 99. Fixed blade versions are widely used for
handcrafts. The blades for a utility knife come in both double-
and single-ended versions, and are interchangeable with many but
not all of the later copies. Specialized blades also exist for
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cutting string, linoleum and other purposes.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxcutters .)
3. Appellate Court Rulings
Current law identifies the list of weapons that are prohibited
from being in someone's possession on school campuses, which
includes a "razor with an unguarded blade." (Penal Code
626.10(a).) One appellate court found that a "razor with an
unguarded blade" is not the same as a razor blade and therefore
this language did not prohibit possession of a razor blade on
campus. (In re Do Kyung K., 88 Cal. App. 4th 583, 594 (2001).)
The Court went on to say, "Although we hold that a razor blade
does not come with the statutory prohibition of Penal Code
section 626.10, subdivision (a), we are gravely concerned about
the possession of razor blades on school grounds. A razor blade
is obviously a dangerous object which may present a significant
safety hazard to those on school grounds. Therefore, we
encourage the Legislature to take prompt action to address this
concern." (Ibid.)
A second court decision involved a student found in possession
of a box cutter with a blade that did not lock in place. The
Court held that section 626.10 also did not prohibit the
possession of a box cutter with a blade that does not lock in
place. (In re Michael R., 120 Cal. App. 4th 1203, 1207 (2004).)
However, a recent Court of Appeals decision held that
possession of a box cutter, where the blade was exposed,
constitutes a "razor with an unguarded blade, and therefore did
violate section 626.10. (In re Z.R. (2008) 168 Cal. App. 4th
1510, 1513.)
DO RAZOR BLADES AND BOX CUTTERS POSE A PUBLIC SAFETY THREAT WHEN
BROUGHT ON A K-12 CAMPUS WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OR PERMISSION OF
SCHOOL AUTHORITIES?
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