BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1487
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2010
Counsel: Milena Nelson
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1487 (Committee on Public Safety) - As Introduced: March 9,
2010
SUMMARY : Reduces good-time/work-time credits from one-half to
one-third for persons convicted of misdemeanors while confined
in a county jail. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that a prisoner sentenced to state prison shall
receive a one-day credit for each day served in a city or
county jail, industrial farm, or road camp unless the record
shows that the prisoner refused to satisfactorily perform
labor as assigned by the sheriff, chief of police, or
superintendent of an industrial farm or road camp, or did not
satisfactorily comply with the rule and regulations of that
jail, farm or road camp.
2)Specifies that a prisoner sentenced to state prison shall not
receive day-for-day credit while confined in a city or county
jail, industrial farm, or road camp if he or she is required
to register as a sex offender, as specified, or has a
conviction for a serious or violent felony, as specified.
3)States that specified prisoners of a city or county jail,
industrial farm, or road camp shall receive a deduction of two
days from his or her period of confinement for each six days
he or she is confined unless he or she has refused to
satisfactorily perform labor as assigned by the sheriff, chief
of police, or superintendent of an industrial farm or road
camp, or did not satisfactorily comply with the rule and
regulations of that jail, farm or road camp. Specified
prisoners include those confined to any city or county jail,
industrial farm, or road camp:
a) Under a judgment of imprisonment, or a fine and
imprisonment until the fine is paid in a criminal action or
proceeding;
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b) As a condition of probation under suspension of
imposition of a sentence or suspension of execution of
sentence, in a criminal action or proceeding;
c) For a definite period of time for contempt pursuant to a
proceeding, other than a criminal action or proceeding; or,
d) Following arrest and prior to the imposition of sentence
for a felony conviction.
4)Specifies that no deduction may be made unless the specified
prisoner is committed for six days or longer.
5)Specifies that changes in the way credit is awarded is
prospective, and shall only apply to those confined for a
crime committed after the effective date of this act.
6)States that changes made to the manner in which credits are
awarded shall not affect the modifications made to the credit
awarding system in the previous year.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that specified prisoners of a city or county jail,
industrial farm, or road camp shall receive a deduction of one
day from his or her period of confinement for each four days
he or she is confined unless he or she has refused to
satisfactorily perform labor as assigned by the sheriff, chief
of police, or superintendent of an industrial farm or road
camp, or did not satisfactorily comply with the rule and
regulations of that jail, farm or road camp. Specified
prisoners include those confined to any city or county jail,
industrial farm, or road camp [Penal Code Section 4019(b)(1)
and (c)(1)]:
a) Under a judgment of imprisonment, or a fine and
imprisonment until the fine is paid in a criminal action or
proceeding;
b) As a condition of probation under suspension of
imposition of a sentence or suspension of execution of
sentence, in a criminal action or proceeding;
c) For a definite period of time for contempt pursuant to a
proceeding, other than a criminal action or proceeding; or,
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d) Following arrest and prior to the imposition of sentence
for a felony conviction. [Penal Code Section 4019(a).]
2)States that prisoners who are required to register as a sex
offender or has a current or prior conviction for a serious or
violent felony who are detained in a city or county jail,
industrial farm, or road camp shall receive a deduction of one
day from his or her period of confinement for each six days he
or she is confined unless he or she has refused to
satisfactorily perform labor as assigned by the sheriff, chief
of police, or superintendent of an industrial farm or road
camp, or did not satisfactorily comply with the rule and
regulations of that jail, farm or road camp. Specified
prisoners include those confined to any city or county jail,
industrial farm, or road camp [Penal Code Section 4019(b)(2)
and (c)(2)]:
a) Under a judgment of imprisonment, or a fine and
imprisonment until the fine is paid in a criminal action or
proceeding;
b) As a condition of probation under suspension of
imposition of a sentence or suspension of execution of
sentence, in a criminal action or proceeding;
c) For a definite period of time for contempt pursuant to a
proceeding, other than a criminal action or proceeding; or,
d) Following arrest and prior to the imposition of sentence
for a felony conviction. [Penal Code Section 4019(a).]
3)Specifies that no deduction shall be made unless the person is
committed for a period of four days or longer, or a period of
sex days or longer if the person is required to register as a
sex offender or has a current or prior conviction for a
serious or violent felony, as specified. [Penal Code Section
4019(e).]
4)Allows for credits towards sentence to be earned, as
specified. [Penal Code Section 2933(a).]
5)Provides that for every six months of continuous
incarceration, a prisoner shall be awarded credit reduction of
six months towards his or her confinement, unless prohibited
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from earning credits by another section of law. The maximum
credits earned under this section is six months. [Penal Code
Section 2933(b).]
6)Specifies that credits are a privilege, not a right, but every
eligible prisoner shall have the opportunity to participate in
the credit program. [Penal Code Section 2933(c).]
7)Provides that credits lost may be restored after one year free
of disciplinary infractions, under regulations adopted by the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. A
deduction of 180 days will be made from the restored credits
for the commission of a serious felony, as specified, or 90
days for conspiracy to commit a serous felony, as specified.
Credits may not be restored if the forfeiture resulted from
causing permanent disability or killing of another. Upon
application, a qualified prisoner's credits will be restored,
unless the forfeiture was for more than 90 days, if at a
hearing evidence is found that the prisoner refused to accept
or failed to perform in a credit qualifying assignment, or in
extraordinary circumstances. Otherwise, restoration of
credits are at the discretion of the Secretary. [Penal Code
Section 2933(d).]
8)Allows prisoners serving their sentences in county jail, city
jail, industrial farm, or work camp to receive one day of
credit for each day served. [Penal Code Section 2933(e).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "This bill
restores the jail inmate credits that existed before the
enactment of the prison reform bill passed last year.
"Incidental to one of the prison reforms in SBx3 18 from last
year - credits for prison
inmates - were changes to credits for jail inmates. For many
years, county jail inmates could earn enough credits to reduce
their jail sentence by up to one-third. SB 18x increased
these jail credits to make them consistent with the credit
rules for state prison inmates.
"After SBx3 18 went into effect, we learned that its jail credit
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changes would have the unintended effect of undercutting the
community corrections effort launched by a bill I co-authored
last year with our former colleague, Senator Benoit, SB 678.
"Part of that community corrections model involves judges using
county jail time as an intermediate sanction short of prison.
By reducing available jail time, judges could be faced with an
inadequate custodial alternative to state prison. The last
thing we want to do is fast-track offenders out of community
corrections into prison.
"This bill addresses this concern by restoring the credits
available for jail inmates under the law prior to the
enactment of SBx3 18. This bill does not affect the prison
inmate credit reforms enacted by SBx3 18."
2)Proportionality of Credits to Nature of the Crime Committed :
Under this bill's proposed changes, an inmate in a city or
county jail, industrial farm or road camp sentenced to state
prison, but waiting to be transferred to prison, would receive
a one-day credit for each day served unless he or she is
required to register as a sex offender or has a current or
previous conviction for a serious or violent felony. These
inmates are serving time for convictions of felonies which
require incarceration for a period longer than one year.
However, an inmate who was sentenced to a city or county jail,
industrial farm or road camp, would receive two-day credit for
every six days served. These inmates are serving time for
convictions of misdemeanors or less serious felonies requiring
incarceration for less than one year.
This incongruence in the manner in which inmates can earn
sentence credits has two ramifications. First, it creates the
odd situation where two people, serving the in the same
facility, earn sentence credits at different rates. Second,
the inmate earning more credits was convicted of a more
serious crime, a felony, than the inmate earning less credits,
who was convicted of a misdemeanor.
3)Overcrowding in Jails : Like the state prison system, many
counties are under federal court orders to reduce the number
of inmates within the system. Over the past 30 years, the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed several
lawsuits to force counties to reduce the number of people
incarcerated in the jail system. For example, Los Angeles
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County jails are the subject of on-going litigation,
particularly the Men's Central Jail. In a recently release
report on the status of the Men's Central Jail, the ACLU
stated that many of the on-going issues within the Men's
Central Jail are created by or exacerbated by overcrowding.
According to the ACLU, one of the most significant problems is
"the apparent culture of violence and retaliation that
persists in the jail, a culture fueled by severe overcrowding
and understaffing . . . . In an aging and decrepit facility,
this culture leaves vulnerable those most susceptible to
violence and victimization-like prisoners with mental illness,
for example-and it is the community if Los Angeles that pays
the price, both in terms of taxpayer dollars to fund a jail
system housing constant re-offenders and in terms of the
societal costs absorbed by releasing back into the community
men who have not been prepared to successfully re-enter
society." (American Civil Liberties Union, Annual Report on
Conditions Inside Men's Central Jail, 2008-2009.
) This bill may exacerbate the current
over-crowding crisis in county jails as many inmates would
earn less credits than they can under current law.
4)Governor's Proposal to Shift More Inmates to Jails will
Exacerbate Overcrowding : Despite the current over-crowding
crisis in many California jails, Governor Schwarzenegger has
proposed shifting the responsibility for incarceration of
inmates convicted of specified non-serious, non-violent,
non-sex offenses to county and city jails. The Governor's
proposal is designed to both save the state money by reducing
state prison costs and reducing the current over-crowding
crisis in the state prison system. If the Governor's proposal
and this bill are both successful, the current jail
over-crowding crisis will be greatly increased.
5)Argument in Support : According to Taxpayers for Improving
Public Safety , this bill "will clarify the number of days for
good time credit both a prison and county jail inmate may
receive. The importance of this legislation is self-evident,
both because of current prison and jail overcrowding and
inconsistencies win the manner in which good time credits are
awarded to inmates. Because legislation and the current State
financial difficulties have overwhelmed both County jails and
State prisons, and as a result, rehabilitation programs have
realistically disappeared, the only reward system for positive
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inmate behavior available to Warden's and Sheriff's is good
time credits. The inconsistent implementation of good time
credits will be resolved by this legislation."
6)Argument in Opposition : According to the California Public
Defenders Association , "SB 1487 seeks to repeal the increase
in credits made available to some county jail inmates under
SBx3 18 (2009). The prison reform bill passed by the
Legislature in 2009 and signed into law by Governor
Schwarzenegger acknowledged the staggering prison and jail
overcrowding crisis and attempted to enact modest reforms to
reduce the server overcrowding in prisons and jails. Of the
state prison bound people in custody, all are housed in local
county and city jails prior to sentencing. Under SB 1487,
individuals who actually receive a prison sentence will
continue to receive additional [Penal Code Section] 4019
credits whereas AB 1487 would deny individuals who have earned
a probationary sentence from receiving the same 4019 credits
enacted by SBx3 18.
"Approximately 70 percent of individuals housed in county jails
are there on a pre-conviction basis? The days in jail do not
determine whether a person will succeed on probation- rather
it is the upfront combination of incentives, individual
assessments to determine the correct needs of the individual,
and the connection to those actual services and program that
will make the difference."
7)Related Legislation :
a) SBx3 18 (Ducheny), Chapter 28, Statutes of 2009,
provides that certain prisoners earn one credit for each
day served in state prisons or in other institutions while
awaiting transfer to a state prison. SBx3 18 also
authorizes up to six weeks of additional credit upon the
completion of specified programs, and expands the existing
program for extra time credits for inmate firefighters.
SBx3 18 also revises the time credits for inmate of city or
county jails.
b) AB 2392 (Torrico) would have limited state prison
inmates' day-to-day sentence credits to inmates actively
participating, or willing to participate, in work,
education, or substance abuse programs rather than from the
time of sentence to state prison. AB 2392 was never heard
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by this Committee.
c) AB 1395 (Torrico) awards a one-day credit for each day
served in a city or county jail, industrial farm or road
camp for those inmates sentenced to state prison. AB 1395
would award one day credit for ever six days confined to a
city or county jail, industrial farm or road camp. AB 1395
is pending hearing by the Senate Public Safety Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State Sheriffs' Association (Sponsor)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California District Attorneys Association
California Probation, Parole, and Correctional Association
Chief Probation Officers of California
Crime Victims United
Los Angeles County Probation Officers Union
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Opposition
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Analysis Prepared by : Milena Nelson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744