BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1751
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Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1751 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 8, 2010
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 4-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill deletes a prior juvenile adjudication from the
definition of "prior felony conviction" for the purposes of
sentencing under the three strikes law.
FISCAL EFFECT
Unknown significant ongoing GF savings depending on the number
of persons admitted to state prison under a second or third
strike term on the basis of a juvenile strike who would
otherwise serve a significantly shorter term. Though CDCR
currently has no data on the number of strikers with a juvenile
strike - the Bureau of State Audits is scheduled to release a
related audit that may include such figures - but, for example,
if five percent of the strikers committed to state prison in
2009 had a juvenile strike, annual savings would be in the tens
of millions within several years for second strikers, and annual
out-year savings for third-strikers would exceed $10 million in
about 20 years.
In 2009, about 7,130 persons were committed to state prison as
second strikers, and about 216 as third-strikers. As of December
2009, 41,000 persons were serving state prison terms under the
three strikes law - 8,600 third-strikers, and 32,400
second-strikers.
COMMENTS
AB 1751
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1)Rationale. The author contends it is inappropriate to sentence
a person to life in prison on the basis of an offense
committed as a teenager.
According to the author, "Juveniles are subject to three
strikes. However, as a rule, juvenile offenders are not
afforded the right to a jury trial. Moreover, there are some
offenses that will serve as a strike for a juvenile even
though they are not strikes for adults. There is no 'wash-out'
period and crimes committed by a juvenile can be counted as a
strike decades later, even if the crime occurred prior to the
passage of Three Strikes.
"Most importantly, Three Strikes is contrary to the
rehabilitative purposes of the juvenile justice system. Our
entire system has been built on the premise that young people
can reform with proper care and should not be unfairly
penalized later in life for past indiscretions. It's wrong
that a juvenile crime can be used later as a strike. It's even
worse that the Three Strikes Law can sentence a juvenile to a
life sentence. This bill is meant to correct these problems by
clarifying that juvenile crimes may not be counted as
strikes."
2)Current law provides that a prior juvenile adjudication is a
prior conviction for the purposes of sentencing under the
Three Strikes law if the juvenile was 16 years of age or older
at the time of the offense and the offense was one of the
specified serious offenses for which a minor 14 years of age
or older can be certified to adult court for trial as an
adult, or if the offense would qualify as a serious or violent
felony under the Penal Code definitions.
3)Support . According to the California Public Defenders
Association, "Despite the fact that proceedings are not as
formal and adversarial in juvenile court, the "Three Strikes
law," for the first time, allowed the use of juvenile cases,
for which the youth did not receive a jury trial, to be used
against the youth when he became an adult and was charged with
any felony. The existence of one prior offense would double a
potential sentence, and the existence of two prior charges,
even if they occurred on the same occasion, would mean a
AB 1751
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sentence of twenty five years to life."
4)Opposition . According to the California District Attorneys
Association, ''In People v. Nguyen (2009) 46 Cal.4th1007, the
California Supreme Court held that the use of juvenile
adjudications as prior convictions for purposes of Three
Strikes was lawful. We concur in this holding and therefore
must oppose this measure, which attempts to abrogate that part
of the holding in Nguyen."
5)It takes a two-thirds floor vote to amend the three strikes
law , which provides for a life sentence for any felony offense
if the defendant has been convicted of two or more prior
violent or serious felonies. If a defendant has one prior
violent or serious felony, the penalty for the current felony
is double the term that would otherwise be applied.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081