BILL NUMBER: SB 79	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 8, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hayden

                        DECEMBER 7, 1998

   An act to  amend Sections 667 and 1170.12  
add Title 9 (commencing with Section 14090) to Part 4  of the
Penal Code, relating to sentencing.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 79, as amended, Hayden.  Sentencing:  prior convictions.
   Existing law, amended by initiative statutes,  commonly known
as the Three Strikes Law,  specifies the punishment for persons
who are convicted of a felony who have 2 or more prior violent or
serious felony convictions.  The initiative statutes provide that any
amendment of their provisions by the Legislature shall require a 2/3
vote of the membership of each house.  
   This bill instead would provide that this punishment applies to
persons who are convicted of a violent or serious felony who have 2
or more prior violent or serious felony convictions.  Because it
would amend initiative statutes, this bill requires a 2/3 vote.
 
   This bill would establish a task force to review and assess the
Three Strikes Law and recommend any changes that may be required to
serve its public safety purposes in a fair and efficient manner.  The
task force would be comprised of 25 members representing specified
groups including proponents of that law, law enforcement,
correctional personnel, victims rights advocates, academic experts,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and representatives of the
families of inmates sentenced under the Three Strikes Law.  The
members would be appointed as specified by the Governor, the Attorney
General, the Senate Rules Committee, and the Speaker of the
Assembly.  The task force would convene public meetings, take
testimony, and prepare a report of its findings and recommendations
and submit that report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2000.

   Vote:  2/3   majority  .  Appropriation:
  no.  Fiscal committee:  yes. State-mandated local program:  no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  
  SECTION 1.  Section 667 of the Penal Code is  
  SECTION 1.  Title 9 (commencing with Section 14090) is added to
Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:

      TITLE 9.  TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE THREE STRIKES LAW

   14090.  It is the intent of the Legislature to convene a task
force to review and assess the three strikes law under Sections 667
and 1170.12, and recommend any changes that may be required to serve
its public safety purposes in a fair and efficient manner.
   14091.  The task force shall assess existing evidence concerning
the types of offenses committed by individuals convicted under the
Three Strikes Law, whether there are inequities that should be
addressed arising from the different offenses that receive the same
punishment, the costs of correctional resources devoted to offenders
sentenced under the Three Strikes Law, and whether there are reforms
of the Three Strikes Law that could improve the mission of increased
sentences for chronic, repeat violent offenders.
   14092.  (a) The task force shall be composed of no more than 25
persons, representing a range of individuals with different points of
view, including persons who are proponents of the Three Strikes Law,
correctional personnel, victims rights advocates, academic experts,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and representatives of the
families of inmates who have been sentenced pursuant to the Three
Strikes Law.  The appointing parties designated in subdivision (b),
shall meet and confer to ensure that the members of the task force
constitute a full and fair representation of all the groups specified
in this subdivision.
   (b) The members of the task force shall be appointed as follows:
   (1) The Governor shall appoint three members.
   (2) The Attorney General shall appoint two members.
   (3) The Senate Rules Committee shall appoint 10 members.
   (4) The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint 10 members.
   (c) The Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly
shall appoint the cochairs of the task force.
   14093.  (a) The duties of the task force shall be to convene
public meetings, take testimony as needed, seek consensus wherever
possible, and prepare a report of its findings and recommendations
and submit that report to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2000.

   (b) Upon release of the report required by subdivision (a), the
task force shall be terminated.
   14094.  The task force shall be staffed, to the extent feasible,
by legislative policy consultants to the public safety and judiciary
committees from both parties. 
_____________________________________     All matter omitted in this
version    of the bill appears in the bill as   introduced in the
Senate,   December 7, 1998 (JR 11)
____________________________________