BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1010|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1010
Author: Mitchell (D), et al.
Amended: 3/17/14
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/29/14
AYES: Hancock, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
NOES: Anderson, Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: De Le�n
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/12/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SUBJECT : Cocaine base: penalties
SOURCE : A New Way of Life
American Civil Liberties Union
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
California State Conference of the NAACP
Californians for Safety & Justice
Courage Campaign
Drug Policy Alliance
Ella Baker Center
Friends Committee on Legislation
National Council for La Raza
William C. Vel�zquez Institute
DIGEST : This bill reduces the penalty for possession for sale
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of cocaine base to be the same as that for powder cocaine; and
revises the guidelines for probation eligibility for both the
possession for sale of powder cocaine and cocaine base, as
specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Includes the following penalties for conduct involving
cocaine and cocaine base:
A. Simple possession (for personal use) of cocaine or
cocaine base is a felony jail term of 16 months, two
years or three years.
B. Possession for sale of cocaine is a felony jail term
of two, three or four years.
C. Possession for sale of cocaine base is a felony jail
term of three, four or five years.
D. Sale or distribution of cocaine or cocaine base is a
felony jail term of three, four or five years.
2. Provides for seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle, boat or
airplane used as an instrumentality of drug commerce.
Specifies that provisions are triggered where the amount of
cocaine base involved in the offense weighed 14.25 grams
(approximately ounce) or more and where the amount of
cocaine weighed 28.5 grams (1 ounce).
3. Provides that the court can only grant probation to a person
convicted of certain crimes if unusual circumstances exist
establishing that a grant of probation promotes justice. The
restriction applies to any case involving 14.25 grams or more
of cocaine base, or 57 grams or more of a substance
containing at least five grams of cocaine base. By
comparison, the restriction applies to any case involving
28.5 grams or more of cocaine, or 57 grams or more of a
substance containing cocaine.
This bill:
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1. Provides that the incarceration penalty for possession for
sale or distribution of cocaine base is a felony jail term of
two, three or four years - the penalty for possession for
sale of powder cocaine.
2. Provides probation can only be granted to a person convicted
of possession for sale of 28.5 grams or more of cocaine base,
or 57 grams or more of a substance containing at least five
grams of cocaine base, if the court finds unusual
circumstances demonstrating that probation promotes justice.
3. Authorizes seizure and forfeiture of a vehicle, boat or
airplane used as an instrumentality of drug commerce
involving cocaine base weighing 28.5 grams or more, or 57
grams or more of a substance containing at least five grams
of cocaine base.
4. Includes legislative findings that powder cocaine and cocaine
base are two different forms of the same drug, each producing
the same effects when ingested and that imposing higher
penalties and greater forfeitures on persons convicted of
crimes involving cocaine base is unjustified.
Background
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
produced in 2013 data on the number of inmates from fiscal year
2005-06 through 2009-10 imprisoned for possession for sale of
powder cocaine and those imprisoned for possession for sale of
cocaine base. The data was disaggregated by ethnicity and sex
of the inmates. The data is set out without reflecting the sex
of the inmate:
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|Race/Ethnici|African |Caucasian |Latino |Other |
|ty |American | | | |
|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-----------|
|Cocaine |2061 |829 |3285 |181 |
|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-----------|
|Cocaine |4152 |96 |972 |142 |
|Base | | | | |
|------------+-------------+-------------+------------+-----------|
|Total |6213 |925 |4257 |323 |
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African Americans were imprisoned for possession of cocaine base
for sale at a rate 43.25 times that for Caucasians. African
Americans were imprisoned for possession of cocaine
hydrochloride for sale at a rate 2.5 times that for Caucasians.
African Americans were imprisoned for possession of cocaine base
for sale at a rate 4.3 times that for Latinos. Latinos were
imprisoned for possession of cocaine hydrochloride for sale at a
rate 1.6 times that for African Americans.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Potential future significant cost savings in the low millions
of dollars (General Fund) to the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation assuming shorter prison sentences and/or fewer
prison commitments due to expanded probation eligibility
provisions for about 150 inmates committed to state prison
annually.
Potential future significant cost savings in the millions of
dollars (Local) to local agencies for reduced county jail
terms for several hundred offenders under the reduced
sentencing triad and expanded probation eligibility
provisions, offset to a degree by increased costs for a larger
felony probation population. The Department of Justice
conviction data indicates on average over 750 convictions for
possession for sale of cocaine base since 2012.
Potential increase in court costs (General Fund*) for
additional revocation hearings associated with the larger
population of felony probationers.
Unknown, potential minor loss of state and local revenues from
asset forfeiture proceeds of vehicles seized from cocaine base
offenses.
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*Trial Court Trust Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/13/14)
A New Way of Life (co-source)
American Civil Liberties Union (co-source)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (co-source)
California Public Defenders Association (co-source)
California State Conference of the NAACP (co-source)
Californians for Safety & Justice (co-source)
Courage Campaign (co-source)
Drug Policy Alliance (co-source)
Ella Baker Center (co-source)
Friends Committee on Legislation (co-source)
National Council for La Raza (co-source)
William C. Vel�zquez Institute (co-source)
Addiction Research and Treatment
Advancement Project
Amity Foundation
Anti-Recidivism Coalition
Asian American Drug Abuse Program
Asian Law Caucus
California Society of Addiction Medicine
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
California Drug Counseling, Inc.
Center for Health Justice
Center for Living and Learning
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Center on Policy Initiatives
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Community Coalition
Community Works West
Employee Rights Center
healthRIGHT360
Holman United Methodist Church
Homeboy Industries
Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles
Homies Unidos
Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission
Human Rights Watch
Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
Justice Not Jails
Justice Policy Institute
Latino Voters League
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Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
League of United Latin American Citizens
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Los Angeles Community Action Network
Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches
Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Association of Social Workers, Women's Council, CA
Chapter
National Employment Law Project
New PATH
PICO California
Pillars of the Community
Presente.org
Progressive Christians Uniting
Project Inform
Rubicon Programs
San Diego Black Health Associates, Inc.
San Diego Organizing Project
San Fernando Recovery Center
SHIELDS for Families
Tarzana Treatment Centers
The Sentencing Project
University of College Hastings Law Students for Sensible Drug
Policy
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/13/14)
California Narcotics Officers Association
California Police Chiefs Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug.
Scientific reports, including a major study published in
the Journal of the American Medical Association,
demonstrate that they have essentially identical effects
on the human body. Powder cocaine can be injected or
snorted. Crack cocaine can be injected or smoked, and is
a product derived when cocaine powder is processed with an
alkali, typically common baking soda. Gram for gram,
there is less active drug in crack cocaine than in powder
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cocaine.
Whatever their intended goal, disparate sentencing
guidelines for two forms of the same drug has resulted in
a pattern of institutional racism, with longer prison
sentences given to people of color who are more likely
than whites to be arrested and incarcerated for cocaine
base offenses compared to powder cocaine offenses, despite
comparable rates of usage and sales across racial and
ethnic groups.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Police Chiefs
Association states, that this bill will lower the penalties for
trafficking in cocaine base to the level that currently exists
for powder cocaine trafficking.
We believe that the preferable approach is to raise the
penalties for powder cocaine trafficking to the same level
that currently exists for trafficking in cocaine base.
Candidly, the damages done to individuals, families and
neighborhoods by virtue of cocaine trafficking are severe.
Although we support equalizing the penalty structures, we
do not believe that drug
traffickers - who visit real harm on communities - should
be the beneficiaries of legislation that equalizes the
penalty structure.
JG:d 5/13/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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