BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair S
2011-2012 Regular Session B
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SB 1098 (La Malfa) 8
As Introduced February 16, 2012
Hearing date: April 24, 2012
Public Resources Code
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CONSERVATION CAMPS:
INMATE PLACEMENTS
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: SB 700 (La Malfa) - 2011 - Hearing in Senate
Public Safety cancelled at request of author.
Support: CDF Firefighters, Local 2881
Opposition:None known
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION BE REQUIRED
TO PROVIDE ALL INMATE CLASSIFICATION, RECLASSIFICATION, AND
RE-ADMISSION SCORE SHEETS IN ITS POSSESSION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO THE CONSERVATION
CAMP IN WHICH THE INMATE IS BEING PLACED?
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PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to provide all inmate
classification, reclassification, and re-admission score sheets
in its possession to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CAL FIRE) personnel assigned to the conservation
camp in which the inmate is being placed.
Current law provides that inmates and wards may be assigned to
perform public conservation projects, including, but not limited
to, forest fire prevention and control, forest and watershed
management, recreational area development, fish and game
management, soil conservation, and forest watershed
revegetation. (Penal Code � 6202.)
Current law provides that the Sierra Conservation Center shall
be located in the Tuolumne area of California. The North Coast
Conservation Center shall be located in the North Coast area of
California. The Southern Conservation Center shall be located on
the grounds of the California Institution for Men at Chino. The
director may establish such branches of the conservation centers
as may be necessary. (Penal Code � 6203.)
Current law provides that the supervision, management, and
control of the conservation centers and the responsibility for
the care, custody, treatment, training, discipline, and
employment of persons confined therein or in branches thereof or
in permanent, temporary, and mobile camps operating therefrom
are vested in the Director of Corrections. (Penal Code � 6206.)
Current law allows local government to require persons
imprisoned for violation of an ordinance to labor on public
property or works within the city. (Government Code � 36904.)
Current law states that any department, division, bureau,
commission or other agency of the State of California or the
Federal Government may use or cause to be used convicts confined
in the state prisons to perform work necessary and proper to be
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done by them at permanent, temporary, and mobile camps to be
established under this article. The director may enter into
contracts for the purposes of this article. (Penal Code � 2780.)
Current law provides that the Secretary of Corrections shall
determine which prisoners shall be eligible for employment under
Section 2780, and shall establish and modify lists of prisoners
eligible for such employment. Upon the requisition of an agency
mentioned in Section 2780, the Director of Corrections may send
to the place and at the time designated the number of prisoners
requisitioned or such number thereof as have been determined to
be eligible for such employment and are available. The director
may return to prison any prisoner transferred to camp pursuant
to this section, when the need for such prisoner's labor has
ceased or when the prisoner is guilty of any violation of the
rules and regulations of the prison or camp. (Penal Code �
2781.)
Current law provides that a CDC Classification Score Sheet,
shall be prepared pursuant to section 3375.3 on each newly
received felon. In completing the Classification Score Sheet,
all relevant documents available during the reception center
process shall be reviewed, the inmate shall be interviewed,
informed of the purpose of the form, and be allowed to contest
specific item scores and other case factors on the form. Factors
for which documentation is absent or conflicting shall be
discussed during the interview. The inmate is responsible for
providing documentation to support their challenge of any
information on the Classification Score Sheet.
An effort shall be made to obtain verifiable documentation of
all items on the Classification Score Sheet. The probation
officer's report (POR) shall be the document of choice to
resolve any conflicting information received. Credit shall be
given only upon verifiable documentation and shall not be given
based solely on an inmate's statements.
A corrected Classification Score Sheet shall be initiated when
the inmate or another party presents verifiable documentation to
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support the change. When the change results in a placement
score which falls into the range for a different facility
security level, the inmate's case shall be referred to a CSR for
transfer consideration.
(15 Cal.Code of Regs. 3375 (j).)
Current law provides that a CDC Reclassification Score Sheet
shall be prepared pursuant to section 3375.4 as part of the
regular, continuous classification process. If an inmate's
recalculated placement score is not consistent with the
institution/facility security level where the inmate is housed,
the case shall be presented to a CSR for transfer consideration.
A CDC Reclassification Score Sheet shall be completed:
Twelve months after the date that the inmate physically
arrived in the reception center and annually thereafter.
Any six-month period when favorable points are granted
or unfavorable points are assessed which would cause the
inmate's placement score to fall outside of the facility
security level.
Each time a case is presented to a CSR for placement
consideration.
A CDC Re-admission Score Sheet, shall be completed pursuant to
section 3375.5 as part of the re-admission process when a
parolee is returned to prison.
(15 Cal.Code of Regs. 3375 (k).)
This bill would require CDCR to provide all inmate
classification, reclassification, and re-
admission score sheets in its possession to the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection personnel assigned to the
conservation camp in which the inmate is being placed.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
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("ROCA")
In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, since
early 2007 it has been the policy of the chair of the Senate
Committee on Public Safety and the Senate President pro Tem to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate prison
overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions. Under
the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which stands for
"Receivership/Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the Committee
has held measures which create a new felony, expand the scope or
penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increase the
application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate the
prison overcrowding crisis by expanding the availability or
length of prison terms (such as extending the statute of
limitations for felonies or constricting statutory parole
standards). In addition, proposed expansions to the
classification of felonies enacted last year by AB 109 (the 2011
Public Safety Realignment) which may be punishable in jail and
not prison (Penal Code section 1170(h)) would be subject to ROCA
because an offender's criminal record could make the offender
ineligible for jail and therefore subject to state prison.
Under these principles, ROCA has been applied as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress towards reducing prison
overcrowding by passing legislation which could increase the
prison population. ROCA will continue until prison overcrowding
is resolved.
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation.
On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years
earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California established a Receivership to take
control of the delivery of medical services to all California
state prisoners confined by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006,
plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
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three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California
to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design
capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates
-- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its
ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the
decision of the three-judge panel in its entirety, giving
California two years from the date of its ruling to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, subject
to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate
circumstances. Design capacity is the number of inmates a
prison can house based on one inmate per cell, single-level
bunks in dormitories, and no beds in places not designed for
housing. Current design capacity in CDCR's 33 institutions is
79,650.
On January 6, 2012, CDCR announced that California had cut
prison overcrowding by more than 11,000 inmates over the last
six months, a reduction largely accomplished by the passage of
Assembly Bill 109. Under the prisoner-reduction order, the
inmate population in California's 33 prisons must be no more
than the following:
167 percent of design capacity by December 27, 2011
(133,016 inmates);
155 percent by June 27, 2012;
147 percent by December 27, 2012; and
137.5 percent by June 27, 2013.
This bill does not aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis
described above under ROCA.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
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This bill would require CDCR to provide all
classification, reclassification and re-admission
score sheets on each inmate to the CalFIRE personnel
working in the conservation camp in which the inmate
is placed. Currently, the CalFIRE personnel do not
have any background information on the inmates in
their custody. This bill would allow only the
personnel that are employed in the specific
conservation camp to view the files.
2. Make up of CDCR Fire Camps
According to CDCR, statewide, there are 43 Adult and Juvenile
conservation camps. The conservation camps are located in 27
counties located throughout the state:
There are 200 fire crews currently consisting of
approximately 3,932 inmates and wards.
Approximately 400 additional non-firefighter inmates are
assigned to the conservation camps in a support role. Of
the 43 camps, 38 camps are jointly operated by CDCR and CAL
FIRE since 1946.
Five camps are jointly operated by CDCR/LA County Fire
since 1983.
Three of the camps are for female inmates.
There is one camp for wards from the Division of
Juvenile Justice.
The conservation camps range in size from an 80 person
camp to a 160 person camp.
3. Which Inmates are Eligible for Fire Camp?
The following inmates are eligible for assignment to fire camp:
Male inmates designated as level I and II.
Inmate must have 5 years or less remaining to serve at
the time of placement in the camp setting.
A reception center inmate who has more than 30 days
remaining to serve.
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A general population inmate who has more than 90 days
remaining to serve.
Minimum custody inmates.
Inmates with active/potential ICE holds are eligible if
the inmate has documented family ties in California or
prior work history of one year (may be cumulative) with no
history of prior deportations.
However, inmates who meet these preliminary eligibility criteria
are then screened according to the following exclusion criteria:
VIOLENT FELONIES PURSUANT TO PC SECTION 667.5(c)
Most violent felonies like murder, kidnap, rape, lewd and
lascivious act with child, etc. are automatically
disqualified for camp placement. This includes
enhancements, stayed counts, Board of Parole Hearings
good/probable cause hearings, juvenile sustained
adjudications, and probation violations. This also
includes current and prior convictions.
Certain violent felonies, depending on the circumstances of
the conviction, are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The
case-by-case review considers not only the violent felony
conviction but also reviews the totality of the inmate's
specific case factors. Some of the case-by-case violent
felonies the department reviews are robbery, carjacking,
and burglary first of an inhabited dwelling. Additionally,
while not violent felonies, the department mandates
case-by-case reviews to be completed on the following code
offenses in the interest of public safety:
PC Section 192(b), Involuntary Manslaughter;
PC Section 422, Criminal threats; and
PC Section 646.9, Stalking.
SECURITY LEVELS III AND IV ARE EXCLUDED - These are
placement and/or classification scores of 28 and higher.
Security Level I and II, scores of 0-27, are considered
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along with other case factors.
TIME TO SERVE to be eligible can be a little as 60 days
prior to an inmate's release date with previous Camp
experience or up to 15 years applying the camp 2 for 1
credit earning which would bring the inmate's release date
down to 5 years. Inmates with a 2 for 1 adjusted release
date of 3 to 5 years require the Warden's approval.
NO ESCAPES PURSUANT TO PC SECTION 4532.
NO ACTIVE FELONY HOLDS. Inmates with immigration holds,
who have family ties in California or prior work history of
one year and were not previously deported, are reviewed on
a case-by-case basis.
NO VALIDATED ACTIVE OR INACTIVE PRISON GANG MEMBERS OR
PRISON GANG ASSOCIATES - This information is verified by
the Office of Correctional Safety on the CDCR Form 128-B2.
DISCIPLINARY - The inmate must not have a pattern of
excessive misconduct or disrupted the orderly operations of
the institution, i.e., batteries, riots, inciting riots,
etc. If an inmate was found guilty of a serious offense
that warrants a Security Housing Unit term, the inmate must
remain disciplinary free for a minimum of twelve (12)
months and complete a higher level of restricted custody
before the inmate would be considered for possible
case-by-case review.
NO MEDICAL, PSYCHIATRIC, OR DENTAL CONCERNS - The inmate
must be specifically cleared by medical for Camp placement.
This includes a body mass index that must be met.
PUBLIC INTEREST CASES - These are cases identified by a
CDCR staff member at the Correctional Counselor III level
as involving high notoriety who requires exceptional
placement when the crime, circumstances of the offense, or
subsequent conduct results in unusual public concern as
evidenced by extensive media coverage beyond the local
community i.e., Manson.
NO ARSON CONVICTION PURSUANT TO PC SECTION 451 - This
section includes arson of structure, vacant land, etc., or
with injuries. The department includes current or prior
convictions, Board of Parole Hearings good/probable cause
findings, and juvenile sustained petitions.
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ANY INMATE CLASSIFIED WITH RESTRICTED CUSTODY (SEX
OFFENDER).
4. How Will Realignment Affect Firecamps?
Under the state's Public Safety Realignment, the state's prison
population will be substantially altered. Certain felons -
generally, offenders who have never been convicted of a
"serious" or "violent" crime, an aggravated white collar crime,
or required to register as a sex offender - will serve their
felony sentences in local custody, and not in state prison.
Additionally, parole violators will no longer be sent to state
prison but will serve any sentence for their parole violation in
local custody. (AB 109 (Committee on Budget), Chap. 15,
Statutes of 2011.) This will clearly reduce the pool of
prisoners who will be eligible for assignment to a fire camp
since those inmates tended to be the same low level inmates who
will now be incarcerated at the local level.
On February 23, 2012, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO)
published its report, Refocusing CDCR after the 2011
Realignment. That report states:
Because realignment will result in certain lower-level
offenders no longer being admitted to CDCR, the
remaining offenders will be more likely to have
offense histories and security classifications that
make them ineligible to participate in the camps. As a
result, it is estimated that the population of inmates
in the fire camps will decrease significantly in
future years, as shown in Figure 9 (see next page).
Specifically, based on information provided by CDCR,
we estimated that the fire camp population could drop
to about 2,500 inmates by 2016-17, representing a 38
percent decline from 2010-11.
(LAO report, supra, at page 17.)
Because these changes will be made prospectively, CDCR has
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informed Committee staff that the existing inmate population
will allow the camps to remain at the current level of operation
into 2012. However, once realignment is fully implemented,
there will be a deficiency of approximately 1,500 inmate
firefighters which would have to be filled by county inmates.
The Department is currently negotiating with the counties an
arrangement whereby counties would make some inmates who, under
realignment, would be housed locally, available for assignment
to fire camp.
5. Providing Information on Conservation Camp Inmates to CAL FIRE
According to CAL FIRE, CDCR currently provides it with the
following information regarding the inmates assigned to fire
camps: although the central file remains at the institution, a
working file is transferred to the camp with the inmate. The
file kept at the camp is known as the AWC file (Associate Warden
C-file), which is a condensed version of the main Central File
kept at the institution. This condensed file contains:
The current Legal Status Summary Sheet, which contains
the inmate's commitment offense, length of sentence and
date of arrest.
The Probation Officer's Presentence report which
contains a description of the current offense for which the
inmate is incarcerated, any prior offenses, social factors
(e.g., the inmate's prior military service, drug abuse
history, etc.) as well as the probation officer's
recommendation for sentencing (e.g., prison, jail or
supervised probation).
The inmate's complete criminal history (RAP Sheet),
including all arrests.
The last CDCR form 128G, which is the Classification
Chrono making the inmate eligible for camp placement.
The latest CDCR form 128 C-3, Medical Classification
Chrono. This Chrono deems the inmate physically fit to be
an inmate firefighter or special skills based on his/her
medical condition(s). Additional camp-generated forms
including, for example, any disciplinary infractions.
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According to CAL FIRE, camp staff may utilize this information
for a number of reasons. For example, knowing of any past
disciplinary issues there have been with the inmate allows the
CAL FIRE employee to better understand how to address any
specific issues they may have with the inmate in the future.
They may also review the medical chrono if there is a physical
fitness situation that may need to be addressed.
CAL FIRE has also informed committed staff that they have the
ability, under current regulations, to request any further
information they deem necessary from CDCR on any inmate assigned
to a fire camp and that CDCR has been willing to provide them
with any information requested. (See 15 Cal. Code of Regs. �
3402.)
6. Concerns of the CDF Firefighters
The CDF Firefighters Local 2881 have informed Committee staff
that, despite the best intentions of the agencies involved, "it
is clear that CAL FIRE personnel do not have complete,
unfettered access to the histories of the inmates with whom they
have custodial responsibilities, as well as supervisorial
responsibilities under emergency conditions."
"It appears that in some camps there is easier access to inmate
background than in others - this includes not only the
bureaucratic protocol for accessing files, but also for
information that is actually available at the site. A Captain
may request the information from the camp Lieutenant, but if the
Lieutenant chooses not to allow access to the files, the Captain
must contact two more layers of administration within CAL FIRE
before �CDCR] is contacted. This means a week or more has
passed before the Captain gains access to the inmate files." . .
.
"A fire caption is responsible for his or her crew, which can
include 14 to 17 felons from institutions who work under the
direct supervision of CAL FIRE - usually without Corrections at
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the scene. While riots and fighting are rare, they do happen,
especially when rival gangs are assigned to the same crew. The
safety factor is probably more of an issue for the inmates under
our supervision than for those doing the supervising but the
risk factor is always there."
SHOULD IT BE REQUIRED THAT CDCR PROVIDE THE SPECIFIED INMATE
CLASSIFICATION INFORMATION TO CAL FIRE FOR INMATES ASSIGNED TO
FIRE CAMP?
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