BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 892
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 892 (Hancock)
As Amended August 22, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :25-11
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Jones-Sawyer, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Quirk, 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 : Places additional due process procedures for
determining if a prison inmate is a member of, or an associate
of, a gang, for purposes of placing the inmate in a Security
Housing Unit (SHU). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires specified due process procedures for determining if
an inmate is an affiliate of a security threat group, and
subject to placement in a SHU, which must include at minimum
the following:
a) Timely, written, and effective notice that security
threat group validation is being considered, and the facts
upon which that consideration is 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 witnesses
and information;
d) An interpreter, if necessary, for the inmate to
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understand or participate in the proceedings;
e) A staff assistant to assist with the inmate's
investigation;
f) An independent determination by the committee of the
reliability of confidential informants; and,
g) A written statement in plain language setting forth the
specific evidence relied upon, and the reasons for,
validation.
2)Requires, commencing on January 1, 2015, an inmate placed in
the SHU as a result of a security threat group validation, to
be placed in the Step Down Program and, for inmates who were
placed in the SHU prior to January 1, 2015, sets a deadline of
December 1, 2016, for the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation's (CDCR) designated review board to place those
inmates in the Step Down Program.
3)Requires an inmate in the Step Down Program to be provided
with promising or evidence-based programming to promote
successful assimilation back into the general prison
population.
4)States that an inmate serving a determinate SHU term shall be
provided with promising or evidence-based programming, and
specifies that information obtained from the inmate during the
programming shall not be used in a rules violation report
against the inmate, or to keep the inmate in the SHU.
5)Provides that CDCR shall have the power to promulgate
regulations to define "promising programming."
6)Requires CDCR to prepare a reentry plan for every offender who
will parole directly out of the SHU or Psychiatric Services
Unit (PSU) into the community.
7)Provides that an inmate in a SHU or PSU must have access to
educational programming and access to radio or television.
8)States that CDCR shall create a behavior-driven progressive
incentives program that includes, but is not limited to, both
of the following for any 30-day period during which an inmate
in the SHU or PSU does not receive a rules violation report:
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a) One additional phone call in the following month; and,
b) One additional photograph, for a maximum of 10.
9)States, commencing July 1, 2015, that CDCR must employ two
ombudsmen to act as offender resource specialists SHUs and
PSUs, and be responsible for, among other things, assisting an
inmate with concerns about the inmate's responsibilities and
rights during confinement in one of those units, responding to
an inmate's family member's inquiries, and explaining SHU and
PSU policies to the public.
10)Mandates CDCR, commencing July 1, 2015, to report to the
Office of the Inspector General (OIG) at six month intervals,
specified data regarding inmates who have gone through the
validation process for determining security threat group
affiliation, only to the extent that the data is already being
collected via the Strategic Offender Management System or
other electronic tracking systems utilized by CDCR.
11)States, commencing January 1, 2017, and biennially
thereafter, the OIG shall use the data provided by CDCR to
prepare a report to the Legislature that contains specified
information.
12)Authorizes CDCR to establish regulations to allow specified
inmates placed in a SHU, PSU, Behavioral Management Unit or
Administrative Segregation Unit to earn credits during the
time he or she is placed in one of these units.
13)Requires these regulations to provide for separate
classifications of serious disciplinary infractions as they
relate to restoration of credits, the time period required
before forfeited credits or a portion thereof can be restored,
and the percentage of forfeited credits that may be restored
for those time periods, not to exceed those percentages
authorized for general population inmates.
14)States that the regulations shall provide for credit earning
for inmates who successfully complete specific program
performance objectives.
15)Provides that any papers, correspondence, memoranda,
electronic communications, or other documents of the OIG
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pertaining to the review of security threat group validations,
as specified, are not public records subject to the California
Public Records Act nor shall these be subject to discovery.
16)Makes various Legislative findings and declarations regarding
segregated housing in California's state prisons.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, significant ongoing General Fund (GF) costs, in the
$3 million range, for staffing, prescriptive procedures, and
audits and reports.
One-time capital outlay costs in the $1 million range for
exercise yards and security barriers.
Unknown annual GF savings, potentially in the low tens of
millions of dollars over the course of a decade, by making SHU
inmates eligible for sentence credits.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) currently confines nearly
4,000 inmates in SHU facilities. Of these, almost 2,500 inmates
are serving indeterminate terms; many of the 2,500 are serving
SHU terms of several years or even decades.
"Psychological research has found that a lack of social
interaction can lead SHU inmates suffer from a variety of
psychological and psychiatric illnesses. These can include
chronic insomnia, panic attacks, and symptoms of psychosis
(including hallucinations).
"SB 892 would create an infrastructure to ensure humane
conditions for SHU inmates, provide oversight and accountability
in the use of the SHU, provide for evidence-based programming to
inmates, and provide greater due process."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0005294
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