BILL ANALYSIS
SB 128
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 18, 1999
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Carole Migden, Chairwoman
SB 128 (Polanco) - As Amended: May 19, 1999
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 5-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local
Program:NoReimbursable:
SUMMARY :
This bill:
1)Requires the Board of Prison Terms (BPT), during an
indeterminately sentenced inmate's third year of
incarceration, to meet with the inmate to discuss the process
for determining parole eligibility, including the inmate's
minimum eligible release date and the factors most relevant to
parole eligibility.
2)Requires the BPT at this meeting to discuss and prepare an
inmate performance plan, consisting of performance measures
the BPT considers necessary for parole suitability, such as
education, job training, substance abuse treatment, victim
offender awareness and restitution, remorse and
accountability.
3)Requires at least two BPT commissioners to meet with each
inmate one year before the inmate's minimum eligible parole
date to review parole suitability and to consider setting a
date for parole.
4)Requires the BPT to set a release date if the BPT finds the
inmate is making satisfactory progress on the inmate
performance plan, unless the BPT finds the inmate's release
would pose a danger to society.
5)Requires the BPT to state in writing why an inmate is being
denied a parole date.
6)Requires parole suitability to be based on an inmate's record
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as a whole, including performance and psychological
evaluations included in the inmate's file.
FISCAL EFFECT
Unknown annual GF costs, likely in the range of $100,000, to
prepare an inmate performance plan for the 500 or so inmates who
undergo initial parole hearings. The bill specifies legislative
intent not to require additional hearings or additional
personnel, but to add the provisions of this bill to the current
process.
COMMENT
1)Rationale. According to the author, who references a Joint
Legislative Committee on Prison Construction and Operations
hearing on this issue, "The Penal Code creates a presumption
that an inmate be given a release date, after a certain
minimum period of incarceration, unless certain findings are
made. At the hearing, we heard from many witnesses who
testified that, in practice, the opposite is true. In fact,
granting a release date is the exception, not the rule. Less
than 1% of all life term inmates are given a release date?.
The courts are getting involved in these cases because the BPT
isn't doing their job. The taxpayers not only pay those legal
bills, but pay these commissioners good salaries to make
judgment calls about whether inmates would be a public safety
risk. Yet, they are rubber-stamping each case - not making any
distinctions - treating all inmates like they were Charles
Manson."
"The taxpayers pay for the psychiatrists who evaluate these
inmates. Commissioners, with no psychology background,
routinely ignore those evaluations and make their own
determination."
"This bill is not about early release. It does not require
the BPT to let out people after a minimum term. This bill is
about fairness and uniformity. It is requiring the BPT to
follow some consistent guidelines, and to look at each case
individually, to determine when someone is suitable to be
released in the community, given the totality of the
circumstances?. The recidivism rate for non-life term felons
is around 70%. The recidivism rate for life-term felons is
about 3%. Thus, once a lifer is paroled (only after intense
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scrutiny), the threat to public safety is very low."
2)Current law (a) requires the BPT to meet with each
indeterminately sentenced inmate during the third year to
review the inmate's file, make recommendations, and document
conduct pertinent to post-conviction credit; (b) requires at
least two BPT commissioners to meet with an inmate one year
before the inmate's minimum eligible parole date to set a
parole release date; and (c) requires the BPT to set a release
date unless the BPT determines a date is not in the interest
of public safety.
3)Proponents contend the BPT uses parole suitability criteria in
a arbitrary way resulting in less than 1% of all inmates
serving life terms being found suitable for parole. Inmates
are left with no clear idea of how to become - or whether they
have a chance to become - suitable for parole. This bill
attempts to help the BPT make uniform, rational, and less
arbitrary decisions. The BPT will be required to specify in
writing the reasons for its decisions and what the inmate must
do to become eligible for parole.
Arbitrary BPT decisions reduce inmate incentive to begin and
complete a program when inmate efforts can be summarily
dismissed by the BPT. Correctional staff would benefit under
this bill by using the performance plan as an inmate
management tool. An inmate with a clear vision of what is
required to gain parole is more likely to be discipline free
than an inmate who comes to believe there is no incentive to
program and accept personal responsibility.
4)Lifer parole statistics . In 1995, six inmates were given
parole release dates. In 1996, nine inmates received dates.
Corrections indicates that 26 and 56 inmates were released to
parole for the 1996 and 1997 calendar years, respecitvely. As
of January 2, 1999, the CDC indicates that there were 19,519
life prisoners with the possibility of parole in the system,
including 513 who have served 20 years or longer.
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5)Opponents , including various peace officer groups, propose
amendments to restore language contained in current law that
focuses on the gravity of the commitment offense in relation
to not setting a parole date. This measure deletes that
reference, substituting "an unreasonable risk of danger to
society?" as the subjective measure for not setting a parole
date.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916)319-2081