BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1907
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1907 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
Policy Committee: Public Safety
Vote: 5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill makes a series of relatively minor procedural changes
to the existing process for involuntary administration of
psychiatric medication to state prison inmates, and applies the
entire process to inmates sentenced to county jail under
correctional realignment.
Changes to the existing California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) process:
1)Clarify that if an inmate is involuntarily medicated on an
emergency basis, the inmate must receive an expedited hearing
and expedited access to counsel.
2)Delete the requirement that emergency involuntarily medication
last only five days unless an ALJ authorizes continuing
medication, and instead requires, if CDCR clinicians identify
a situation that jeopardizes the inmate's health and requires
continued emergency medication, CDCR must provide notice, as
specified, to the inmate and counsel of its intention to seek
an ex parte order to continue emergency medication pending the
full hearing.
3)Specify once CDCR has requested an ex parte order for
emergency involuntary medication of an inmate of CDCR, that
inmate and his or her counsel have two business days to
respond to the request and may present facts supported by an
affidavit in opposition to the request.
4)Require an order to renew an existing involuntary medication
order be granted based on clear and convincing evidence the
AB 1907
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inmate has a serious mental disorder that requires psychiatric
medication treatment.
5)Require, if CDCR wishes to add a basis to an existing order,
advance notice to inmate and counsel, specifying and
qualifying the basis. This additional basis must be proved by
clear and convincing evidence at hearing.
6)Require CDCR to adopt regulations to fully implement this
section.
7)Replace references to psychotropic medications with
psychiatric medications.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown, likely minor net state costs/savings as a result of
procedural changes.
2)Unknown, potential moderate county jail savings as a result of
using the existing CDCR procedures. CDCR last year estimated
potential savings in the $2 million range from the chaptered
2011 bill (AB 1114, Lowenthal) that established this process
for CDCFR, primarily as a result of extending the renewal
interval for many involuntary medication cases from 180 days
to 365 days.
3)Though there is no known opposition to this bill by counties,
and though it may actually lead to a net savings, the bill
does create a state mandate, and could therefore lead to a
determination from the Commission on State Mandates requiring
the state to reimburse counties for this process - a process
many counties appear to be following in large part now.
COMMENTS
Rationale . This bill extends the recently adopted process for
involuntary psychiatric medication of state inmates to county
jail inmates sentenced pursuant to county jail realignment.
This bill is a follow-up to the author's AB 1114 (Statutes of
2011), which created, as an alternative to the process specified
in 1986 by Keyhea v. Rushen , procedural requirements for
involuntary administration of psychotropic medication to state
prison inmates that eliminate the certification review hearing
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under Keyhea, while safeguarding due process protections for
inmates contesting involuntary medication.
As noted in the Assembly Public Safety Committee analysis, the
Keyhea court held that equal protection required that prisoners
subject to involuntary psychotropic medication be afforded the
same rights as non-prisoners. At the time of the Keyhea
decision, however, there were no statutes defining the rights of
non-prisoners subject to involuntary medication. Therefore, the
court adopted procedures to be used when a court civilly commits
a person as gravely disabled or a danger to self or others.
These procedures include a stringent set of reviews and hearings
depending on the length of the commitment sought.
AB 1114 codified much of the Keyhea process with some
exceptions. The most significant differences are (a) the bill
shortens the process to ensure that an inmate has a hearing
before an ALJ to discontinue involuntary medication, (b) extends
the duration for involuntary medication to 365 days for all
orders, whereas under Keyhea, the authorization for an inmate
determined to be a threat to self or others is 180 days, and 365
days for an inmate considered gravely disabled.
For purposes of context, in 2010 CDCR sought 1,035 involuntary
medication renewals at six months for persons considered a
danger to self or others. Only 17 of these were not renewed for
a full year.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081