BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2527|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2527
Author: Swanson (D)
Amended: 8/15/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/19/12
AYES: Hancock, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/14/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Early termination of probation
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill (1) requires a court to terminate the
period of probation and discharge the probationer at any
time when the ends of justice will be subserved, and when
the good conduct and reform of the person so held on
probation warrant it, and (2) lists the factors that the
court may consider in determining whether to terminate the
period of probation for good conduct and reform by the
probationer, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/15/12 prevent chaptering out
provisions of a Budget Trailer Bill which amended Section
1203.3 of the Penal Code (PEN) and has already been
chaptered.
NOTE: This bill passed the Senate (21-13) on 7/5/12 and
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AB 2527
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has been returned from the Assembly for these amendments.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes a court, at any time
during the term of probation, to revoke, modify, or change
its order of suspension of imposition or execution of
sentence. (PEN Section 1203.3(a))
Existing law authorizes a court to terminate the period of
probation and discharge a person on probation when the ends
of justice will be subserved thereby, and when the good
conduct and reform of the person shall warrant it. (PEN
Section 1203.3(a).)
Existing law provides that the court's authority to revoke,
modify, terminate or change a previous order is subject to
the following:
1. Before any sentence or term or condition of probation is
modified, a hearing shall be held in open court before
the judge. The prosecuting attorney shall be given a
two-day written notice and an opportunity to be heard on
the matter, except that, as to modifying or terminating
a protective order in a case involving domestic
violence, as defined, the prosecuting attorney shall be
given a five-day written notice and opportunity to be
heard.
2. If the sentence or term or condition of probation is
modified, the judge shall state the reasons for that
modification on the record.
3. As used in this section, modification of sentence shall
include reducing a felony to a misdemeanor.
4. No order shall be made without written notice first
given by the court or the clerk thereof to the proper
probation officer of the intention to revoke, modify, or
change its order.
5. In all cases, if the court has not seen fit to revoke
the order of probation and impose sentence or pronounce
judgment, the defendant shall at the end of the term of
probation or any extension thereof, be by the court
discharged subject to the provisions of these sections.
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6. The court may modify the time and manner of the term of
probation for purposes of measuring the timely payment
of restitution obligations or the good conduct and
reform of the defendant while on probation. The court
shall not modify the dollar amount of the restitution
obligations due to the good conduct and reform of the
defendant, absent compelling and extraordinary reasons,
nor shall the court limit the ability of payees to
enforce the obligations in the manner of judgments in
civil actions.
7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
the court from modifying the dollar amount of a
restitution order at any time during the term of the
probation. (PEN Section 1203.3(b)(1) to (5))
This bill requires a court to terminate the period of
probation and discharge the probationer at any time when
the ends of justice will be subserved, and when the good
conduct and reform of the person so held on probation
warrant it.
This bill states that in determining whether to terminate
the period of probation for good conduct and reform by the
probationer, the court may consider the following:
Whether the probationer is pursuing or has obtained a
GED or high school diploma;
Whether the probationer is performing community
service; and
Whether the probationer is participating in an
internship with a government agency or with a nonprofit
entity.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/16/12)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
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Drug Policy Alliance
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/16/12)
California District Attorneys Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Attorneys for
Criminal Justice states:
The purpose of probation is to guide and supervise
people who have committed low level offenses, but have
the capacity to reform. When these probationers succeed
- when they demonstrate good conduct and have actually
rehabilitated themselves - probation is no longer
necessary.
Under current law, a Judge can find that the interests
of justice would be served by terminating probation,
find that the probationer has reformed and has
demonstrated good conduct, and still refuse to terminate
probation.
AB 2527 would eliminate this anomalous result. It would
provide certainty to probationers who are working
diligently toward the goal of terminating their
probation. It would ensure that the limited resources
of County probation departments are spent where they
will do the most good, not on supervision of
probationers who do not need it.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California District
Attorneys Association states:
Under current law, a court is permitted to terminate a
person's probation period if the court finds that such
termination is in the interests of justice and warranted
by the probationer's behavior. We feel this bill is
unnecessary given that changing the word "may" to
"shall" does not alter the fact that the court retains
ultimate jurisdiction to determine if the conditions
necessary for an early termination of probation have
been met. The net result is that this bill is unlikely
to change the frequency with which early probation
terminations are granted.
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We do fear, however, that this change will have an
impact on court calendars inasmuch as this bill will
likely inspire numerous frivolous petitions for early
termination given the presumption that replacing the
word "may" with "shall" will somehow result in a
wholesale change to the way courts consider the existing
provision.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/14/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Fletcher, Perea, Valadao
RJG:k 8/16/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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