BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1652
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1652 (Ammiano)
As Amended May 23, 2014
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 4-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Jones-Sawyer, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Skinner, Stone | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Melendez, Waldron |Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, |
| | | |Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Deletes the provision of law making a person who is
placed in a Security Housing Unit (SHU) upon validation as a
gang member or associate ineligible to earn custody credits.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States, notwithstanding any other law, a person who is placed
in a SHU, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral Management
Unit, or an Administrative Segregation Unit for misconduct as
described below or upon validation as a prison gang member or
associate is ineligible to earn credits during the time he or
she is in the SHU, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral
Management Unit, or the Administrative Segregation Unit for
that misconduct.
2)Specifies the following offenses for which an inmate, if
placed in a SHU, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral
Management Unit, or an Administrative Segregation Unit due to
a violation of one of the offenses, is not eligible to receive
credits:
a) Murder, attempted murder, and solicitation of murder.
For purposes of this paragraph, solicitation of murder
shall be proven by the testimony of two witnesses, or of
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one witness and corroborating circumstances;
b) Manslaughter;
c) Assault or battery causing serious bodily injury;
d) Assault or battery on a peace officer or other
nonprisoner which results in physical injury;
e) Assault with a deadly weapon or caustic substance;
f) Rape, attempted rape, sodomy, attempted sodomy, oral
copulation, or attempted oral copulation accomplished
against the victim's will;
g) Taking a hostage;
h) Escape or attempted escape with force or violence;
i) Escape from any departmental prison or institution other
than a camp or reentry facility;
j) Possession or manufacture of a deadly weapon or
explosive device;
aa) Arson involving damage to a structure;
bb) Possession of flammable, explosive material with intent
to burn any structure or property;
cc) Solicitation of assault with a deadly weapon or assault
by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury,
arson, or a forcible sex act; or,
dd) Intentional destruction of state property in excess of
$400 during a riot or disturbance.
3)Provides that the loss of credits prescribed above does not
apply if the administrative finding of the misconduct is
overturned or if the person is criminally prosecuted for the
misconduct and is found not guilty.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
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1)Significant unknown out-year General Fund (GF) savings, in the
millions of dollars, to the extent validated gang members and
associates who are not lifers, are no longer in SHU, receive
sentence credits.
2)One-time minor GF costs for regulatory changes.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "One tool that has been used
by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) to manage prison gangs is the Security Housing Unit, a
solitary confinement housing program that isolates inmates for
23 hours per day, and places highly restrictive rules and
prohibitions on inmate privileges. It limits items they can
possess, family visitation, and interactions with other inmates.
"As of last summer CDCR had assigned more 4,500 inmates to SHUs
in Pelican Bay, Corcoran, Tehachapi and Valley State Prison for
Women. Fewer than half of the states allow indeterminate
sentences to a SHU, and in many states only a few prisoners at a
time serve these long sentences of a decade or more, whereas
California has several hundred that have been in a SHU for more
than a decade.
"The United States is an outlier in the world on the use of
incarceration and solitary confinement, and California is an
outlier in the United States and is the only state to use
solitary confinement for indefinite terms where SHU terms are
assigned for administrative reasons such as being in possession
of artwork or books.
"This created numerous problems over the decades. Ultimately it
led to investigations and findings that conditions in
California's SHUs do not meet international human rights
standards regarding the treatment of incarcerated people. The
conditions amounted to torture, and groups are challenging the
constitutionality of the SHU. This bill is intended to limit the
use of solitary confinement to people who have committed serious
rule violations, and restore time credits for inmates currently
serving time in the SHU on a non-rule violation assignment."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
AB 1652
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Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0003694