BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 892|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 892
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 5/27/14
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 4/8/14
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, De Le�n, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
NOES: Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SUBJECT : State prisons
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill reforms the policies and procedures of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) with regard
to offender placement in a Security Housing Unit (SHU) or
Psychiatric Services Unit (PSU), as defined, and requires the
Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to provide oversight
activities, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Creates in state government the CDCR, to be headed by a
Secretary, who shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to
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Senate confirmation, and shall serve at the pleasure of the
Governor. CDCR shall consist of Adult Operations, Adult
Programs, Health Care Services, Juvenile Justice, the Board
of Parole Hearings, the Commission on Juvenile Justice, the
Prison Industry Authority, and the Prison Industry Board.
2. Allows the Director of CDCR to prescribe and amend rules and
regulations for the administration of the prisons and for the
administration of the parole of persons sentenced, as
specified.
3. Allows CDCR to place an inmate in the SHU if the inmate has
been deemed a threat to the safety of others or the security
of the institution. States that inmates can be assigned to
the SHU for a determinate or indeterminate term, and an
inmate who has been validated as a gang/Security Threat Group
member can be placed in the SHU for an indeterminate term,
based only on the validation.
4. Creates the independent OIG that is responsible for
contemporaneous oversight of internal affairs investigations
and the disciplinary process of the CDCR.
5. Provides that an inmate in the SHU is ineligible to earn
credits toward reducing his/her prison term.
This bill revises policies and procedures for oversight and
accountability of the CDCR use of the SHU and PSU, as follows:
Due process prior to validation
1. Requires CDCR to provide, at a minimum, the following
procedural protections:
A. Timely, written, and effective notice to the inmate
that validation is being considered, and facts upon which
consideration are based.
B. Decision-making by a dedicated and specially trained
classification committee.
C. A hearing at which the inmate may be heard in person
and absent an individualized determination of good cause,
has a reasonable opportunity to present available
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witnesses and information.
D. An interpreter, if necessary, for the offender to
understand or participate in proceedings.
E. An advocate to assist with the offender's
investigation.
F. An independent determination by the committee of the
reliability and credibility of confidential informants.
Information supplied by an informant shall only be
considered by the committee if there is a finding, based
on evidence, or the informant has personal and actual
knowledge of information provided.
G. A written statement in plain language setting forth
the specific evidence relied upon, and the reasons for,
validation.
Step Down Program (Program) placement for all inmates placed in
SHU - effective January 1, 2015:
1. Provides general description of the Program that shall not
consist of more than five steps.
2. Requires development of individualized plan for each inmate
within 30 days of placement in the Program, as specified.
3. Requires the provision of promising or evidence-based
programming.
4. Requires CDCR to track an inmate's progress in the Program.
5. Requires assessment by a correctional counselor every 90
days to monitor progress and meet with offender and resource
specialist.
6. Provides that an offender shall have the opportunity to
advance to the next step of the Program after successful
participation in the current step for 180 days.
7. Requires CDCR to prepare a comprehensive reentry plan for
every offender who will parole directly into the community.
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8. States those offenders who were placed in the SHU prior to
January 1, 2015, shall be placed in the Program by the CDCR
designated review board no later than July1, 2016.
Offenders serving determinate SHU terms
9. Requires CDCR to develop an individualized plan for each
offender within 30 days of placement in SHU, as specified.
10.Requires the provision of promising or evidence-based
programming.
11.Requires CDCR to track an inmate's progress meeting the plan
goals.
12.Requires assessment by a correctional counselor every 90
days to monitor progress and meet with the offender and
resource specialist.
13.Provides that offenders serving a determinate SHU term shall
be eligible to earn credits towards early release from SHU,
and CDCR responsible for developing guidelines for earning
those credits.
14.Requires CDCR to prepare a comprehensive reentry plan for
every offender who will parole directly into community.
Meaningful stimulation requirements - all offenders placed in
SHU and PSU to be provided with the following:
15.Access to educational programming, including in-cell
programming.
16.Opportunities to exercise in the presence of other
offenders, provided offenders may be separated by security
barriers, if necessary.
17.Weekly face-to-face interaction with both uniformed and
civilian staff or volunteers.
18.Access to radio or television.
Incentives program
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19.Requires CDCR to create a behavior-driven progressive
incentives program that includes but is not limited to the
following for any 30-day period where an offender in SHU or
PSU does not receive a rules violation report:
A. One additional phone call in the following month.
B. One additional photograph, for a maximum of 10.
C. Four additional hours of recreational yard time in the
following month.
1. Provides that an offender is entitled to the privileges
above if disciplinary action is reversed, dismissed, or
modified to a minor rules violation.
Increased credit-earning
2. Provides that an offender is eligible to earn credits, as
specified, during the time he/she is in the SHU for periods
in which he/she remains free of disciplinary action for six
consecutive months.
Mental health screenings and monitoring
3. Requires mental health screenings by a qualified mental
health professional within 30 days prior to SHU term.
4. Provides that an offender who has been diagnosed with a
serious mental illness or who has a history of serious mental
illness and decompensation in segregated settings shall not
be placed in the SHU.
5. All inmates segregated in SHU as of January 1, 2015,
required to undergo a mental health assessment by March 31,
2015.
6. Mental health of offenders in SHU or PSU to be monitored by
daily log maintained by correctional staff, documenting
offenders' behavior.
7. Requires qualified mental health professional to conduct
rounds at least weekly in SHU and PSU to speak to unit staff,
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review daily log, and observe and speak to offenders
receiving mental health treatment.
8. Requires CDCR to provide training to all correctional staff
in SHU and PSU on how to respond to an individual
experiencing a psychiatric crisis in ways that reduce rather
than escalate the crisis.
Two CDCR ombudsmen for each SHU and PSU
9. Requires offender resource specialists to assist offenders
with concerns/questions about responsibilities and rights
during SHU or PSU confinement, respond to inquiries from
offenders' family members, and explain SHU and PSU policies
to the public.
CDCR data collection requirements
10.Commencing July 1, 2015, requires CDCR to collect the
following data:
A. Personal information on offenders going through the
validation process including gender, age, mental health
status, race, date of validation, level of validation
assigned.
B. Information on offenders being housed in SHU or PSU,
including personal information noted above, date placed in
SHU and date released, time spent in each step of the
Program, number of visits from non-staff members, number
of telephone calls provided while in SHU, whether attempts
at suicide, any disciplinary action taken, whether paroled
directly into community, number of administrative appeals
filed, subject matter, and outcomes of the appeals.
New review and audit responsibilities of the OIG
1. Requires, commencing July 1, 2015, review every validation
completed on or after July 1, 2015, in which confidential
information was used, to determine whether minimum level of
due process was provided to inmate and that validation
supported by evidence.
2. States, on or before July 1, 2016, and continually
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thereafter, review the central file of each offender serving
indeterminate SHU term who is denied progress within the
Program to assess CDCR's compliance with requirements, as
specified.
3. Provides that on July 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, an
audit report to the Governor and the Legislature of offenders
serving determinate SHU term to assess CDCR's compliance with
requirements
4. Provides that on or before July 1, 2016, and biennially
thereafter, perform an audit to assess CDCR's compliance with
incentives program and credit earning provisions of this
bill.
5. Provides that on or before July 1, 2016, and biennially
thereafter, perform an audit to assess CDCR's compliance with
mental health screening, monitoring, and training
requirements of this bill.
6. Requires, commencing January 1, 2017, and biennially
thereafter, to use the data collected by CDCR to prepare a
report to Legislature that includes, at a minimum,
information on all data points collected.
7. Requires employment of two secured housing specialists for
each SHU and PSU to monitor the programming and conditions of
the SHU and PSU in addition to assuming any related duties
determined by the OIG.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of about $1 million (General Fund) for the
development of individualized plans for existing SHU inmates,
new programming, the SHU credit earning program, and revision
of regulations.
Unknown, potentially major one-time costs in the millions of
dollars (General Fund) should capital improvements be
required to accommodate the yard-time provisions specifying
exercise for SHU offenders in the presence of other
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offenders.
Major ongoing costs to CDCR upwards of $19.2 million
(General Fund) to meet the requirements of this bill which
include:
o One new Associate Director (and complement of staff):
$1.2 million.
o 10 ombudsmen (two each per SHU/PSU facility): $2.1
million
o Mental health screenings: $7.2 million
o 90-day correctional counselor assessments: $1.3
million
o Weekly face-to-face interactions with civilian
staff/volunteers: $3.3 million
o Incentives program: $4.1 million
Ongoing costs of about $2.4 million (General Fund) for the
OIG to employ 10 secured housing specialists (this bill
specifies two for each SHU and PSU) and the associated
complement of staff to carry out the ongoing review and
periodic auditing requirements of this bill.
Potentially significant future cost savings (General Fund)
in reduced SHU/PSU terms due to accelerated movement out of
the SHU/PSU to the general population to the extent offenders
successfully progress through the Program, and benefit from
programming, the incentives program and credit-earning
opportunities.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/27/14)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/27/14)
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Public Defenders
Association states:
These are smart, money saving reforms that will protect public
and prison safety and promote human dignity. Recently, public
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attention has been focused on this issue due to several high
profile events. In 2013, California prisoners throughout the
state went on a prolonged hunger strike to demand changes in
the desperate conditions of inmates locked in the SHU, and in
particular, prison gang members without hope of ever being
released. For such status offenders the only path to release
is "debriefing." "Debriefing" is the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation's term whereby a prison gang
member or associate renounces their gang affiliation by naming
all of the other gang members and their practices. Since
California's state prisons are rife with inmate on inmate
violence, "debriefing" has the potential to make the former
gang member a target. Such a policy also puts members of the
community at risk since "debriefed" former gang members'
families become targets as well.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Taxpayers for Improving Public
Safety states:
Although the author infers that the SHU is analogous to
Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulags, they are not. The structure
of the cells and the units in which they are located are
exactly the same as those in lower security prisons. Each
inmate is allows a television set and the same property
(books, toiletries, etc.) as that allowed for similarly high
risk classified inmates. The inmates do communicate with each
other both legally by speaking to each other and illegally by
sending written communications to each other.
What is different for the SHU inmates is that they are not
allowed direct contact with any person other than a prison
employee. I realize that this seems harsh, but it is
important to realize that the individuals are isolated so that
they will not direct criminal activity through third persons,
both inside and outside prison. Although there is not a
single spouse, sibling, parent or child of one of these
inmates that will accept the fact that their relative is as
dangerous as I have described, the fact is that that they are.
Because of cleric-penitent communications by which I have
received this information, I cannot disclose specific
instances. However, of the approximate 4,500 California
inmates in SHU at any one time, I can confidently assert that
90% of them represent a clear and present danger not only to
other inmates within the prison system, but also to the
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general public via their gang affiliations. Although it may
be hard to accept, it is a fact that the individuals in the
SHU use personal visits to communicate instructions for
criminal activity.
JG:k 5/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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