BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Mark Leno, Chair A
2009-2010 Regular Session B
2
2
6
AB 2262 (Bass) 2
As Amended May 28, 2010
Hearing date: June 22, 2010
Penal Code
SM:mc
CORRECTIONS: DRIVER'S LICENSE OR
STATE ID CARD NUMBER
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 777 (Bass) - 2010, held on suspense in
Assembly Appropriations
AB 639 (Hancock) - 2007, vetoed
Support: American Civil Liberties Union; California Catholic
Conference; California Correctional Peace Officers
Association; California Peace Officers' Association;
California Police Chiefs Association; California Public
Defenders Association; Center for Restorative Justice
Works; Crime Victims United; East Bay Community Law
Center; Legal Services for Prisoners with Children;
National Employment Law Project; SEIU, Local 1000;
People Serving a Larger Mission; Regional Congregations
and Neighborhood Organizations; San Diego Reentry
Roundtable; Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety;
United African American Ministerial Action Council;
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Prison Fellowship Ministry; California Attorneys for
Criminal Justice; two individuals
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 73 - Noes 1
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
(CDCR) BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE INMATES PRIOR TO THEIR RELEASE WITH
THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE NUMBER OR STATE IDENTIFICATION CARD NUMBER IF
THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES (DMV) HAS ALREADY ISSUED ONE OF
THESE TO THE INMATE AND CDCR IS IN POSSESSION OF THAT NUMBER?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to provide inmates prior
to their release with their driver's license number or state
identification card number if the Department of Motor Vehicles
has already issued one of these to the inmate and CDCR is in
possession of that number.
Existing law does the following:
Finds and declares that the purpose of imprisonment
for crime is punishment and that this purpose is best
served by terms that are proportionate to the
seriousness of the offense while at the same time
providing for uniformity in sentences of offenders
committing the same offense under similar
circumstances. (Penal Code 1170, subd.(a)(1).)
Vests the Secretary of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) with the
supervision, management, and control of California
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prisons, and the responsibility for the care, custody,
treatment, training, discipline and employment of
persons confined therein. The Secretary may prescribe
and amend rules and regulations for the administration
of the prisons. (Penal Code 5054 and 5058.)
Specifically provides for certain services for
inmates, including academic training (Penal Code
2053 and 2054); vocational education (Penal Code
2716 and 2800, et seq.); drug treatment and recovery
(Penal Code 3070, 6102, and 6240, et seq.); mental
health treatment (Penal Code 2960, 5068, and 5079);
and job placement assistance (Penal Code 5060).
Existing law provides that the "purpose of imprisonment" which
is punishment shall not be construed to preclude programs,
including educational programs that are designed to rehabilitate
nonviolent felony offenders. (Penal Code 1170, subd. (a)(2).)
Existing law provides that the Legislature encourages the
development of policies and programs designed to educate and
rehabilitate nonviolent felony offenders consistent with the
purpose of imprisonment. (Penal Code 1170, subd. (a)(2).)
Existing law provides that CDCR is encouraged to give priority
enrollment in programs to promote successful return to the
community to an inmate with a short remaining term of commitment
and a release date that would allow him or her adequate time to
complete the program. (Penal Code 1170, subd. (a)(2).)
Existing law requires the Secretary of CDCR to cause each
person who is newly committed to a state prison to be examined
and studied. This includes the investigation of all pertinent
circumstances of the person's life such as the existence of
any strong community and family ties, the maintenance of which
may aid in the person's rehabilitation, and the antecedents of
the violation of law because of which he or she has been
committed to prison. Any person may be reexamined to
determine whether existing orders and dispositions should be
modified or continued in force.
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Upon the basis of the examination and study, the Director of
Corrections shall classify prisoners; and when reasonable, the
director shall assign a prisoner to the institution of the
appropriate security level and gender population nearest the
prisoner's home, unless other classification factors make such a
placement unreasonable. (Penal Code 5068.)
Existing law provides that prisoners on parole shall remain
under the legal custody of CDCR and shall be subject at any
time to being taken back within the enclosure of the prison.
(Penal Code 3056.)
Existing law contains legislative findings that the period
immediately following incarceration is critical to successful
reintegration of the offender into society and to positive
citizenship. It is in the interest of public safety for the
state to provide for the supervision of and surveillance of
parolees, including the judicious use of revocation actions, and
to provide educational, vocational, family and personal
counseling necessary to assist parolees in the transition
between imprisonment and discharge. (Penal Code 3000(a)(1).)
Existing law requires CDCR to meet with each inmate at least 30
days prior to his or her good time release date and shall
provide, under guidelines specified by the parole authority, the
conditions of parole and the length of parole up to the maximum
period of time provided by law. The inmate has the right to
reconsideration of the length of parole and conditions thereof
by the parole authority. CDCR or the Board of Parole Hearings
(BPH) may impose as a condition of parole that a prisoner make
payments on the prisoner's outstanding restitution fines or
orders imposed. (Penal Code 3000(b)(6).)
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that efforts
be made with respect to specified parolees who are on parole to
engage them in treatment. (Penal Code 3000(b)(9).)
Existing law provides the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) may
issue an identification card to any person attesting to the true
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full name, correct age, and other identifying data as certified
by the applicant for the identification card. Every application
for an identification card shall be signed and verified by the
applicant before a person authorized to administer oaths and
shall be supported by bona fide documentary evidence of the age
and identity of the applicant as the department may require, and
shall include a legible print of the thumb or finger of the
applicant. (Vehicle Code 13000.)
Existing law sets the cost of an identification card fee at $20.
The fee for an original or replacement identification card
issued to a person who has been determined to have a current
income level that meets the eligibility requirements for
assistance programs shall be $6, as specified. (Vehicle Code
14902.)
This bill would require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to provide each inmate, prior to his or her
release, with the inmate's California identification card number
or California driver's license number issued by the DMV if all
of the following apply:
The Department of Motor Vehicles has issued that inmate
a California identification card number or California
driver's license number.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
possesses the inmate's California identification card
number or California driver's license number.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
The severe prison overcrowding problem California has
experienced for the last several years has not been solved. In
December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
federal three-judge panel issued an order requiring the state to
reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity
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-- a reduction of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years.
In a prior, related 184-page Opinion and Order dated August 4,
2009, that court stated in part:
"California's correctional system is in a tailspin,"
the state's independent oversight agency has reported.
. . . (Jan. 2007 Little Hoover Commission Report,
"Solving California's Corrections Crisis: Time Is
Running Out"). Tough-on-crime politics have increased
the population of California's prisons dramatically
while making necessary reforms impossible. . . . As a
result, the state's prisons have become places "of
extreme peril to the safety of persons" they house, .
. . (Governor Schwarzenegger's Oct. 4, 2006 Prison
Overcrowding State of Emergency Declaration), while
contributing little to the safety of California's
residents, . . . . California "spends more on
corrections than most countries in the world," but the
state "reaps fewer public safety benefits." . . . .
Although California's existing prison system serves
neither the public nor the inmates well, the state has
for years been unable or unwilling to implement the
reforms necessary to reverse its continuing
deterioration. (Some citations omitted.)
. . .
The massive 750% increase in the California prison
population since the mid-1970s is the result of
political decisions made over three decades, including
the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the
passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes
laws, as well as the state's counterproductive parole
system. Unfortunately, as California's prison
population has grown, California's political
decision-makers have failed to provide the resources
and facilities required to meet the additional need
for space and for other necessities of prison
existence. Likewise, although state-appointed experts
have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the
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state could safely reduce its prison population, their
recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or
postponed indefinitely. The convergence of
tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend
the necessary funds to support the population growth
has brought California's prisons to the breaking
point. The state of emergency declared by Governor
Schwarzenegger almost three years ago continues to
this day, California's prisons remain severely
overcrowded, and inmates in the California prison
system continue to languish without constitutionally
adequate medical and mental health care.<1>
The court stayed implementation of its January 12, 2010, ruling
pending the state's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Supreme
Court. On Monday, June 14, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed
to hear the state's appeal in this case.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis described above.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
One of the many barriers to re-entry is the lack of a
valid form of identification. Inmates are often
paroled without official ID sufficient to find
employment, residence, benefits, and assistance that
leads to successful reintegration. AB 2262 provides
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<1> Three Judge Court Opinion and Order, 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 (August 4, 2009).
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an avenue to assist parolees released from custody
with the necessary information which will ultimately
help them navigate the DMV process to obtain a state
issued identification card.
2. What This Bill Will Do
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Twice in the last three years, bills have been introduced to
require CDCR to provide inmates with a driver's license or state
identification card upon release to help them find jobs and
reintegrate into society. (AB 777 (Bass) (2010) held on
suspense in Assembly Appropriations, AB 639 (Hancock) (2007)
vetoed.)
The veto message for AB 639 read:
This bill would require the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to work
collaboratively to ensure that certain inmates
released from San Quentin State Prison obtain a valid
California identification card.
I share the author's concern for providing tools to
individuals about to be released from prison that will
aid them in making a successful transition into the
community. The CDCR and DMV have worked together to
provide California identification cards to parolees in
the past and are currently working on a similar joint
pilot at various CDCR facilities.
Additionally, this bill will result in parolees
receiving services that are not currently available to
the general public. For example, the DMV does not
perform the function of determining whether or not
members of the general public have the ability to pay
applicable identification card fees. These services
must be applied for through other governmental or
non-profit public assistance programs.
This bill is more modest than previous bills. Under this bill
CDCR would simply be required to provide inmates, prior to
release, with their driver's license number or state
identification card number if one had previously been issued to
them and if CDCR "possesses" that number. The intent being that
this will help speed the processing of the inmate's application
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for issuance of a new driver's license or state ID card.
WILL THIS ASSIST INMATES IN OBTAINING VALID IDENTIFICATION UPON
THEIR RELEASE?
IF SO, WILL THAT HELP THEM REINTEGRATE INTO SOCIETY, FIND WORK
AND ULTIMATELY HELP REDUCE THE CHANCES OF THE INMATE
REOFFENDING?
3. Argument in Support
SEIU, Local 1000 states:
This bill will help to solve one of the many problems
facing inmates when they leave prison. That is, lack
of proper identification. This bill would help to
resolve this problem, which has only been exacerbated
by the recent cutbacks in vocational education
programs. Parolees sometimes used licenses or other
certifications earned in vocational training programs
as a form of identification. With half of these
programs now closed, this option is rarely available
to inmates upon release. The California ID card
should be available to parolees as a standard practice
if we expect to lower our prison population safely.
AB 2262, as amended, would now apply to a limited
number of inmates. However, for those who qualify it
will provide necessary documentation for inmates to
use when renting a house, opening a bank account,
applying for jobs, or obtaining a driver's license.
At one point, instructors within CDCR used to provide
driving instruction to inmates before they left prison
and help them pass a driver's test and secure a
license. Those days are long gone. This bill offers
a solution to one of the most vexing problems an
inmate faces; lack of necessary papers when they leave
prison.
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