BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 210|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 210
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 1/4/12
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 1/10/12
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Harman, Liu, Price, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 1/19/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Emmerson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SUBJECT : Prisoners: community treatment program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill broadens eligibility for the Community
Prisoner Mother Program in the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation by excluding convictions for planting,
cultivating, harvesting, drying, or processing marijuana or
possession for sale of marijuana as disqualifying crimes
for this program, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law creates in state government the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), headed
by a secretary who is appointed by the Governor, subject to
Senate confirmation, and serves at the pleasure of the
Governor. CDCR consists of Adult Operations, Adult
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Programs, Juvenile Justice, the Corrections Standards
Authority, the Board of Parole Hearings, the State
Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Prison Industry
Authority, and the Prison Industry Board. (Government Code
� 12838 (a).)
Existing law provides that "the supervision, management and
control of the state prisons, and the responsibility for
the care, custody, treatment, training, discipline and
employment of persons confined therein are vested in the
Secretary of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation." (Penal Code � 5054.)
Existing law requires CDCR to establish and implement what
is called the "Community Prisoner Mother Program" (CPMP),
described in statute as "a community treatment program
under which women inmates sentenced to state prison ? who
have one or more children under the age of six years ?
shall be eligible to participate within the provisions of
this section. The community treatment program shall
provide for the release of the mother and child or children
to a public or private facility in the community suitable
to the needs of the mother and child or children, and which
will provide the best possible care for the mother and
child. In establishing and operating such program, the
department shall have as a prime concern the establishment
of a safe and wholesome environment for the participating
children." (Penal Code � 3411.)
Existing law requires CDCR to deny placement in the CPMP if
it determines that an inmate would pose an unreasonable
risk to the public, or if any one of specified factors
exist, except in unusual circumstances or if mitigating
circumstances exist, including, but not limited to, the
remoteness in time of the commission of the offense.
Exclusionary factors include the inmate having been
convicted of any of the following:
A sex offense listed in Section 667.6.
A sex offense requiring registration pursuant to
Section 290.
A violent offense listed in subdivision (c) of
Section 667.5.
Arson as defined in Sections 450 to 455, inclusive.
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The unlawful sale or possession for sale,
manufacture, or transportation of controlled
substances, as specified, if large scale and for
profit, as defined by the department. (Penal Code �
3417(b).)
This bill excludes convictions for planting, cultivating,
harvesting, drying, or processing marijuana or possession
for sale of marijuana, from this list of disqualifying
crimes. (Specifically, convictions under sections 11358 or
11359 of the Health and Safety Code would be expressly
excluded from this list.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2012-13 2013-14
2014-15 Fund
CPMP expansion $25-$63*
$100-$175*$150-$225*General
Potential future cost savings
General
Renew CPMP contracts Potential
annual costs of $800-$1,600
General
offset in part by reduced incarceration
*Assumes CPMPs continue to be funded in the CDCR budget
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/19/12)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
Legal Services for Women with Children
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters state that, "Many
incarcerated mothers have no primary partner to care for
the children, and as a result, children of incarcerated
woman are more likely to end up living with relatives or in
the Child Welfare System. Moreover, separating mothers
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from children increases the likelihood for mothers to
reoffend. California taxpayers subsidize each preventable
day that a mother spends in California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facilities or their
child spends in foster care."
Supporters also state that, "Consider also the situation of
a pregnant prisoner. A state prisoner will deliver her
baby at a nearby hospital, have a brief opportunity to hold
her child, and then will be returned to state prison
childless. If she has been unable to arrange for a trusted
family member to pick up her baby, the baby will be turned
over to Social Services for placement in a foster home.
There is a high demand in the adoption market for newborn
babies. Social Services will have little difficulty
placing this baby with a foster family who is eager to
adopt. The mother, although potentially eligible for
reunification services, may not have access to them, or
support from Social Services. Even though she wants her
baby and would be a good mother, she is at grave risk of
permanently losing her baby to someone who have been in a
position to 'bond' with her child."
RJG:nl 1/19/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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