BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON Public Safety
Senator John Vasconcellos, Chair A
1999-2000 Regular Session B
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AB 788 (Maldonado)
As Amended June 5, 2000
Hearing date: June 20, 2000
Welfare and Institutions Code
AA:mc
JUVENILE JUSTICE:
BALANCED AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: SB 668 (Vasconcellos) 1997-98 session -
vetoed
SB 2126 (Marks) 1995-96 session - died in
Assembly Public Safety Committee
Support: Chief Probation Officers of California; Little Hoover
Commission; California District Attorneys Association
(introduced version); Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau;
California State Sheriffs' Association; California
Child, Youth and Family Coalition; Friends Committee on
Legislation of California; California Catholic
Conference: Children's Advocacy Institute
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 77 - Noes 0
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KEY ISSUE
SHOULD A "BALANCED AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE" MODEL BE ENACTED FOR
CALIFORNIA'S JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to enact a balanced and restorative
justice model for California's juvenile justice system, as
specified.
Current law provides that, "[m]inors under the jurisdiction of
the juvenile court as a consequence of delinquent conduct shall,
in conformity with the interests of public safety and
protection, receive care, treatment and guidance which is
consistent with their best interest, which holds them
accountable for their behavior, and which is appropriate for
their circumstances. This guidance may include punishment that
is consistent with the rehabilitative objectives of this
chapter. . . . When the minor is no longer a ward of the
juvenile court, the guidance he or she received should enable
him or her to be a law-abiding and productive member of his or
her family and the community."<1>
This bill would recast and revise these provisions as follows:
add the word "restoration" to the purpose of juvenile court
law;
delete the current language in Section 202 concerning
delinquent wards and replace it with the following:
[M]inors under the jurisdiction of the juvenile
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<1> Welfare and Institutions Code 202.
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court as a consequence of delinquent conduct shall
receive dispositions intended to accomplish public
safety through the following three objectives:
(1) Community protection through a
continuum of appropriate responses to delinquent
conduct, ranging from supervision to
incapacitation, which protect citizens and victims
from the threat to public safety posed by the
minor.
(2) Accountability of the minor through
restoration of the losses experienced by the
victim and the community.
(3) Competency development of the minor
in basic living skills necessary for law-abiding
citizenship. These objectives shall be given
equal consideration and shall be equally addressed
by juvenile courts, probation departments, and
youth, corrections, and other agencies that may
recommend, order, implement, or supervise
dispositions for delinquent minors.
This bill further would add the following legislative intent to
this provision:
It is the intent of the Legislature that the
following five principles form the basis of
operation for the juvenile justice system to
achieve long-term public safety when dealing with
delinquent minors:
(1) The public has a right to safe and secure
homes and communities.
(2) Crime results in injury to the victim, the
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community, and the offender. The juvenile justice
system should seek to repair those injuries.
Victims and communities should be actively
involved throughout the juvenile justice process,
to the extent consistent with the offender's right
to due process and the right of victims and minors
under subdivision (b) of section 676.5.
(3) Juvenile offenders should be capable of
living in a responsible and law-abiding manner
within the community and their families when they
emerge from the juvenile court's jurisdiction.
(4) The unique set of experiences and
circumstances contributing to the minor's
offensive behavior must be addressed.
(5) California's juvenile justice system will
best achieve long-term public safety when
community protection, accountability of the
offender to the victim and the community, and
offender competency development are treated as
equally weighted goals. (Id.)
Under current law , permissible sanctions of the juvenile court
may include the following:
(1) Payment of a fine by the minor.
(2) Rendering of compulsory service without
compensation performed for the benefit of the
community by the minor.
(3) Limitations on the minor's liberty
imposed as a condition of probation or parole.
(4) Commitment of the minor to a local
detention or treatment facility, such as a
juvenile hall, camp, or ranch.
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(5) Commitment of the minor to the
Department of the Youth Authority.
"Punishment," for the purposes of this
chapter, does not include retribution.
(f) In addition to the actions authorized by
subdivision (e), the juvenile court may, as
appropriate, direct the offender to complete a
victim impact class, participate in victim offender
conferencing subject to the victim's consent, pay
restitution to the victim or victims, and make a
contribution to the victim restitution fund after
all victim restitution orders and fines have been
satisfied, in order to hold the offender
accountable or restore the victim or community.
(Id.)
This bill would add "participation in a victim-offender
reconciliation program" to the above-cited list of permissible
sanctions under section 202.
This bill additionally states the following legislative intent:
It is the intent of the Legislature to promote the
mission of the juvenile justice system, long-term
public safety, through the implementation of a
juvenile justice model known as "The Balanced
Approach to Restorative Justice." The Balance
Approach to Restorative Justice holds as its
central tenet that long-term public safety is best
served when victims, the community, and offenders
engage together as active participants in balanced
efforts to accomplish all of the following: (1)
assure community protection; (2) hold offenders
personally accountable for repairing the harm to
victims and communities resulting from juvenile
crime; and (3) ensure that juvenile offenders make
measurable gains in educational, vocational,
social, civic, and other areas of competency that
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enhance their capacity to function as law-abiding
citizens.
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
AB 788 is an attempt to teach juveniles the
consequences of their actions (crimes) and the
cost to their victims through the "Balanced
Approach" to restorative justice before they
become serious offenders. The bill attempts to
respond quickly to juvenile offenders to deter
future offenses. For those youths that can and
will learn a better way to conduct themselves the
bill offers an opportunity to truly learn from
their mistakes.
2. Prior Legislation
This bill is virtually identical to SB 668 (Vasconcellos) of the
1997-1998 legislative session. SB 668 was vetoed by
then-Governor Wilson.
3. Juvenile Court Law Purpose
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As described above, this bill would make changes to establish
accountability goals and measures between juvenile offenders,
victims and the community. In its September 1996 report, the
California Task Force to Review Juvenile Crime and the Juvenile
Justice Response recommended "that California adopt the balanced
approach framework within the juvenile justice system. This
framework encourages equal consideration for community
protection, offender accountability, and offender competency
development." The Task Force commented:
A balanced approach operates on the premise that
decision-making must take into consideration the
converging interests of all involved parties in the
juvenile justice process, including: 1) protection
of the community; 2) restoration of the victim and
the community; and 3) the juvenile delinquent's
development of basic literacy and living skills
necessary for the youthful offender to emerge from
the juvenile court's jurisdiction as a responsible,
law-abiding citizen. A balancing of these three
objectives must be sought if long-term public
safety is to be achieved. A balanced approach
provides the juvenile justice system with a clear
direction that helps to resolve the long-standing
dispute over the relative value and virtues of
rehabilitation versus punishment, treatment versus
control, the community's interest versus the needs
of the delinquent youth, and public safety versus
youth development.
The Task Force believes that implementing a
balanced approach can enhance long-term public
safety for all Californians. In this way, the
juvenile courts and juvenile probation can again
gain widespread public support, clarify the goals
and objectives of those active in this field, and
begin to turn around young people who are currently
on a losing track in their own lives.
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SHOULD CALIFORNIA ADOPT A "BALANCED AND RESTORATIVE JUSTICE"
APPROACH TO JUVENILE JUSTICE?
4. Background: Balanced and Restorative Justice: National
Perspective
In September of 1992, the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) awarded a grant to implement a
new project known as the Balanced and Restorative Justice
Project. The Project is developing model juvenile systems based
on the balanced approach mission<2> and the restorative justice
philosophy.<3> Public safety, accountability and competency
developments constitute balanced and restorative justice.
According to OJJDP, these three priorities involve the
following:
Community Protection - Intermediate, community-based
surveillance and sanctioning systems channel the offender's
time and energy into productive activities during nonschool
working hours. A continuum of surveillance and sanctions
provides a progression of consequences for noncompliance with
supervision requirements and incentives that reinforce the
youth's progress in meeting competency development and
accountability objectives.
Accountability - Restitution, community service and
victim-offender mediation create an awareness in offenders of
the harmful consequences of their actions for victims, require
offenders to take action to make amends to victims and the
community, and, whenever possible, involve victims directly in
the justice process.
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<2> Maloney, Romig and Armstrong, Juvenile Probation: The
Balanced Approach (1988); Bazemore, On Mission Statements and
Reform in Juvenile Justice: The Case for the Balanced Approach
(1992).
<3> Umbreit, Victims Seeking Fairness, Not Revenge: Toward
Restorative Justice (1989); Van Ness, Restorative Justice
(1990); Zehr, Changing Lenses (1990).
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Competency Development - Work experience, active learning, and
service provide opportunities for offenders to develop skills,
interact positively with conventional adults, earn money, and
demonstrate publicly that they are capable of productive,
competent behavior.<4>
Balanced and Restorative Justice intends to be a catalyst for
change in the juvenile justice system:
As a concrete mission, the balanced approach allows
juvenile justice systems and agencies to improve
their capacity to protect the community and ensure
accountability of the offender and the system. It
enables offenders to become competent and productive
citizens. Restorative justice, the guiding
philosophical framework for this vision, promotes
maximum involvement of the victim, the offender, and
the community in the justice process and presents a
clear alternative to sanctions and intervention based
on retributive or traditional treatment assumptions.
Within the context of the restorative justice
philosophy, the balanced approach mission helps
juvenile justice systems become more responsive to
the needs of victims, offenders, and the
community.<5>
One key purpose of the Balanced and Restorative Justice approach
is to prompt changes in the juvenile system involving new
performance objectives, new priorities for intervention and a
new view of the role of offenders, victims and the community in
the justice process.<6>
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<4> Balanced and Restorative Justice Program Summary, Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
<5> Id.
<6> Id.
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