BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A
2013-2014 Regular Session B
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AB 494 (V. Manuel Pérez)
As Amended May 7, 2013
Hearing date: May 14, 2013
Penal Code
MK:jr
PRISONERS: LITERACY AND EDUCATION
HISTORY
Source: Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000
Prior Legislation: AB 900 (Solorio) Chapter 7, Stats. 2007
Support: California Public Defenders Association; California
Attorneys for Criminal Justice; American Civil
Liberties Union; Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children; The National Association of Social Workers,
California Chapter; California Catholic Conference;
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Opposition:Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 76 - Noes 0
KEY ISSUE
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AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez)
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SHOULD THE LITERACY PROGRAM IN THE STATE PRISON BE UPDATED TO
MEET THE CURRENT PLAN SET FORTH BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
AND REHABILITATION?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to update the literacy program goals
in the state prisons.
Existing law states that the Legislature finds and declares that
there is a correlation between prisoners who are functionally
literate and those who successfully reintegrate into society
upon release. (Penal Code § 2053(a).)
Existing law requires CDCR to implement in every state prison
literacy programs that are designed to ensure that inmates are
able to read at a ninth-grade level upon parole. (Penal Code §
2053.1.)
This bill provides instead that the literacy programs shall be
designed to meet the goals contained in CDCR's plan entitled "
The Future of California Corrections: A Blueprint to Save
Billions of Dollars, End Federal Oversight, and Improve the
Prison System."
Existing law requires CDCR to make the literacy program
available to at least 25% of eligible inmates by July 1, 1991,
and at least 60% of eligible inmates by January 1, 1996. (Penal
Code § 2053.1.)
This bill provides that the literacy program shall be
implemented as follows:
CDCR shall offer academic programming throughout an
inmate's incarceration that shall focus on increasing the
reading ability of an inmate to at least a 9th grade level.
For inmates reading at a 9th grade level or higher, CDCR
shall focus on helping the inmate obtain a GED, or its
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AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez)
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equivalent, or a high school diploma.
CDCR shall offer college programs through voluntary
education programs or equivalent programs.
While CDCR shall offer education to target populations,
priority shall be given to those with a criminogenic need
of education, those who have a need based on their
educational achievement level, or other factors as
determined by CDCR.
This bill makes Legislative findings and declarations.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation
relating to conditions of confinement. On May 23, 2011, the
United States Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its
prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity within two
years from the date of its ruling, subject to the right of the
state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances.
Beginning in early 2007, Senate leadership initiated a policy to
hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate the
prison overcrowding crisis through new or expanded felony
prosecutions. Under the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which
stands for "Receivership/ Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the
Committee held measures which created a new felony, expanded the
scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increased
the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate
the prison overcrowding crisis. Under these principles, ROCA
was applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary
to ensure that the Legislature did not erode progress towards
reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation which would
increase the prison population. ROCA necessitated many hard and
difficult decisions for the Committee.
In January of 2013, just over a year after the enactment of the
historic Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, the State of
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California filed court documents seeking to vacate or modify the
federal court order issued by the Three-Judge Court three years
earlier to reduce the state's prison population to 137.5 percent
of design capacity. The State submitted in part that the, ". .
. population in the State's 33 prisons has been reduced by over
24,000 inmates since October 2011 when public safety realignment
went into effect, by more than 36,000 inmates compared to the
2008 population . . . , and by nearly 42,000 inmates since 2006
. . . ." Plaintiffs, who opposed the state's motion, argue in
part that, "California prisons, which currently average 150% of
capacity, and reach as high as 185% of capacity at one prison,
continue to deliver health care that is constitutionally
deficient." In an order dated January 29, 2013, the federal
court granted the state a six-month extension to achieve the
137.5 % prisoner population cap by December 31st of this year.
In an order dated April 11, 2013, the Three-Judge Court denied
the state's motions, and ordered the state of California to
"immediately take all steps necessary to comply with this
Court's . . . Order . . . requiring defendants to reduce overall
prison population to 137.5% design capacity by December 31,
2013."
The ongoing litigation indicates that prison capacity and
related issues concerning conditions of confinement remain
unresolved. However, in light of the real gains in reducing the
prison population that have been made, although even greater
reductions are required by the court, the Committee will review
each ROCA bill with more flexible consideration. The following
questions will inform this consideration:
whether a measure erodes realignment;
whether a measure addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
whether a bill corrects a constitutional infirmity or
legislative drafting error;
whether a measure proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
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reasonably appropriate remedy; and
whether a bill addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
1. Need for the Bill
According to the author:
In 1986, San Diego Legislator Larry Sterling authored
legislation to set standards for inmates who were
enrolled in academic classes while they were
incarcerated within the state prison system. The
standard set was 60% of inmates would upon parole, be
able to read at a ninth grade level by 1996. Twenty-
seven years later, according to the department, 23-30%
of inmates read below the third grade level, 68% above
the seventh grade level and 52% above the ninth grade
level.
According to the California Department of Education,
the 1996 high school graduation rate among California
high school students was 66.3%. The graduation rate has
continued on a slow upwards trend over the past 16
years. By 2012, the high school graduation rate has
climbed to 76.3%.
This legislation updates antiquated law. As amended,
it would provide a template for success based upon the
Department's own Blueprint. The bill would set some
basic standards for the use of education program
dollars that are already in the budget. This is an
area of the law that needs to be revisited and updated
given the growing need for an educated workforce.
Studies continue to show a correlation between a
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decrease in recidivism as education level increases.
Setting standards to increase the literacy levels of
inmates who parole will save money by ensuring that
those who leave prison will have the skills necessary
to successfully live in the communities they return to
following their incarceration.
2. Effectiveness of the Prison Educational System as Implemented
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, as of 2008, "the
current set of CDCR education programs reach only a small
segment of the inmate population who could benefit from them.
The CDCR now enrolls about 54,000 inmates in education programs
for a system with 173,000 inmates, and barely one-half of
those-27,000 inmates-are in the core traditional academic
vocational training programs ? most likely to improve the
educational attainment of inmates and thus their employability
upon their release." (Legislative Analyst's Office, From
Cellblocks to Classrooms: Reforming Education to Improve Public
Safety (February 2008) p. 11.)
CDCR, however, states that the decline of state prison inmate
populations due to criminal justice realignment "has provided
the opportunity to increase access and improve its
rehabilitative programs, which will significantly lower
California's recidivism rate." (CDCR, The Future of California
Corrections: A Blue Print to Save Billions of Dollars, End
Federal Oversight, and Improve the Prison System (2012)
In-Prison Rehabilitative Programs, p. 21
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/2012plan/docs/plan/complete.pdf . )
Specifically the plan:
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[A]dds 159 academic teachers over a 2-year period.
Academic programming will be offered throughout an
inmate's incarceration and will focus on increasing an
inmate's reading ability to at least a ninth-grade
level. For inmates reading at ninth-grade level or
higher, the focus will be on helping the inmate obtain
a general education development certificate. College
programs will be offered through the voluntary
education program. While education will be offered to
all inmates, priority will be given to those with a
criminogenic need for education. (Id. Page 22)
3. Changes to the Literacy Goal
This bill changes the literacy goals for CDCR that are in
existing law to match those recommended by the 2012 plan created
by CDCR. Specifically they provide that:
CDCR shall offer academic programming throughout an
inmate's incarceration that shall focus on increasing the
reading ability of an inmate to at least a 9th grade level.
For inmates reading at a 9th grade level or higher, CDCR
shall focus on helping the inmate obtain a GED, or its
equivalent, or a high school diploma.
CDCR shall offer college programs through voluntary
education programs or equivalent programs.
While CDCR shall offer education to target populations,
priority shall be given to those with a criminogenic need
of education, those who have a need based on their
educational achievement level, or other factors as
determined by CDCR.
4. Support
SEIU, the sponsor of this bill, states:
The literacy goal in current law conflicts with the
fact that inmates leaving prison with a ninth grade
education will have a difficult time of navigating an
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ever more complex world, and in particular, finding
employment. This is an area of the Penal Code that
needs to be revisited and updated given the changing
goals of CDCR and the growing need for an education
workforce. Studies continue to show a strong
correlation between decreasing rates of recidivism as
education levels increase. Setting higher standards for
inmate literacy will enhance public safety, reduce the
impact of crime, lower incarceration costs and support
the opportunity for prison inmates to turn themselves
into productive citizens.
The California Public Defenders Association supports this bill,
stating:
If implemented, this bill would act in furtherance of
the overarching goals of parole: to prevent recidivism
and reintegrate former prisoners into society. Literacy
educational programs in prison would assist parolees in
future educational and employment opportunities,
boosting former prisoners' chances of becoming
productive and contributing members of the communities
into which they are reintegrated upon release. Such
investment will benefit society as a whole in parolees'
reduced dependence on government assistance programs
and reduced recidivism rates, with a corollary
reduction in the costs associated with future
incarceration.
5. Specific Reference to the Report .
This bill specifically refers to the 2012 plan by CDCR in
the codified section of this bill. Since the specific
reference is also made in the uncodified findings, is the
reference in the codified section necessary or should it be
deleted since it will date the section? Because this bill
AB 494 (V. Manuel Perez)
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takes the goals from that report the bill, on page 2 lines
23 through 26, page 3 lines 1-4 the bill could be amended to
read:
The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation shall implement in every state prison
literacy programs that are designed to ensure that upon
parole inmates are able to achieve the goals contained
in this section. contained in the department's plan
entitled, "The Future of California Corrections: A
Blueprint to Save Billions of Dollars, End Federal
Oversight, and Improve the Prison System."
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