BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 994|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 994
Author: Bowen (D), ET AL
Amended: 8/24/99
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/6/99
AYES: Vasconcellos, Johnston, McPherson, Polanco, Rainey
NOT VOTING: Burton
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 13-0, 5/27/99
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Johnson,
Karnette, Kelley, Leslie, McPherson, Mountjoy, Perata,
Vasconcellos
SENATE FLOOR : 30-4, 6/1/99
AYES: Alarcon, Alpert, Baca, Bowen, Burton, Chesbro,
Costa, Dunn, Escutia, Figueroa, Hayden, Hughes, Johnson,
Johnston, Kelley, Leslie, McPherson, O'Connell, Ortiz,
Peace, Perata, Polanco, Poochigian, Rainey, Schiff, Sher,
Solis, Speier, Vasconcellos, Wright
NOES: Haynes, Knight, Monteith, Mountjoy
NOT VOTING: Brulte, Johannessen, Karnette, Lewis, Morrow,
Murray
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 41-33, 8/26/99 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Narcotic treatment commitments: restoration of
custody
credits
SOURCE : Author
CONTINUED
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DIGEST : This bill restores custody credits (of one day
for each two days of good conduct and program
participation) to addicts undergoing civil drug treatment
in the California Rehabilitation Center as an alternative
to prison, and thereby to increase the use of the
California Rehabilitation Center.
The bill requires that probation reports specify whether an
offender is eligible for commitment to the civil addict
program.
Assembly Amendments (1) coincides the date that the report
must be completed and submitted to the Legislature, and (2)
adds co-authors.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that any person who is
convicted of a felony may be placed in a diagnostic
facility of the State Department of Corrections (CDC) for
examination and treatment of addiction as part of his or
her sentence, unless otherwise prohibited by law.
Similarly, the trial court must order the examination of
any convicted felon or revoked probationer who is addicted
to narcotics, or likely to become so, for the purposes of
determining the propriety of commitment for treatment to
the California Rehabilitation Center's (CRC) Civil Addict
Program.
Existing law provides that prisoners can generally earn one
day of custody credit for every day spent working, in the
classroom, or in job training, and thus may reduce their
sentences by up to one-half, unless such credits are
prohibited by other statutes such as the "Three Strikes"
law.
Existing law provides that eligible prisoners who seek an
education or job training when no such programs are
available receive one day off of their terms for every two
days in custody, and thus may reduce their sentences by up
to one-third.
Existing law does not provide for good conduct and
program-participation credits for civil addicts because in
1983 the Legislature failed to specifically include the CRC
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Civil Addicts Program in the statutory changes from a good
conduct to work-time custody credit system.
This bill restores work and other program participation
credits to civil addicts undergoing drug treatment at CRC.
Existing law requires probation officers to prepare
probation reports on a defendant's character, history,
family environment and other relevant factors.
This bill requires that such probation reports also specify
whether a defendant is eligible for commitment as a
narcotic addict in the Civil Addict Program.
Existing law provides for the involuntary civil commitment
of narcotic addicts to institutions for treatment.
This bill requires the CDC to contract for an evaluation of
this program by an independent criminal justice policy
report to determine its effectiveness in reducing narcotics
addition and recidivism among offenders. The bill requires
that the evaluation be completed and submitted to the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2003..
The California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) at Norco
1. General Description of the Program
An offender who is identified as a narcotics addict by
the court and who meets a detailed set of criteria
established in state law may be committed to the Civil
addict Program at CRC in Norco for an unspecified period
of time in lieu of a criminal sentence. However, the
addict-offender can refuse CRC commitment. If an
offender accepts CRC commitment, but thereafter fails or
is expelled from the program, he or she is returned to
the court, where a judge orders the criminal sentence to
be executed. Under current law, time spent in the Civil
Addict Program is not subject to standard work or other
program participation credits.
2. Decline in Commitments to CRC
According to the LAO Analysis of the 1998-99 Budget Bill ,
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in 1998 CDC held about 2700 civil addicts. The
population of the Civil Addict Program has declined
significantly since 1994, when CDC housed nearly 4,000
civil addicts. LAO attributed the decline in CRC
commitments to the recent Jones decision which denied
work-time credits to civil addicts undergoing treatment
at CRC and to prohibitions on CRC commitments in "Three
Strikes" sentences. With the denial of credits required
by the Jones decision, fewer defendants are requesting or
urging the court to commit them to CRC.
Legislative Analyst's Office Recommendation
The LAO Analysis of the 1998-99 Budget Bill recommended the
following:
"[W]e recommend the adoption of a statute restoring credits
to civil addicts. To the extent that such a legal change
prompts some offenders to agree to participate in the Civil
Addict Program instead of accepting a regular prison
sentence, the state could save on correctional costs. We
also believe it is reasonable that the civil addicts and
felons incarcerated together at the CRC be treated alike in
the allowance of credits.
"We also recommend the enactment of legislation to require
that county probation officer sentencing reports determine
whether an offender is eligible for commitment to the
program. This would impose a mandate upon local government
that would be reimbursable by state government. We do not
believe the mandate would be costly, however, because
probation officers are already mandated by law to gather
the information necessary for such determinations. We
believe any costs would be outweighed by the state savings
on incarceration that would result from commitment of
offenders to the Civil Addict Program instead of longer
prison terms.
"Placing more offenders in the program is also likely to
reduce the incidence of crime committed by addicts upon
their release from prison. Left untreated, these offenders
would be more likely to continue to abuse illegal drugs and
alcohol and return to a life of crime."
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These LAO recommendations continue in this legislative
session.
Little Hoover Commission Report
The 1998 study by the Little Hoover Commission, Beyond
Bars: Correctional Reforms to Lower Prison Costs and
Reduce Crime , found that "locking up criminals is only
half the job of protecting public safety. The other
half is taking advantage of the time offenders spend in
state custody?to prepare them to function as responsible
citizens, prevent them from committing future crimes and
cycling back into prison."
The Commission also found that drug treatment programs
work. The most successful intensive drug treatment
model in use today is the "therapeutic community" model,
which includes an aftercare component to help transition
"graduates" back into society. The study also found
that only 17% of those who completed both the in-prison
program and the community based aftercare program
committed new crimes, compared to a 66% recidivism rate
in a control group who received no treatment.
Prior Legislation
AB 562 (Bowen - 1997-98 Session). Senate Floor Vote:
25-10. Died on Concurrence in the Assembly.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/99)
San Bernardino County Sheriff
American Civil Liberties Union
California Psychiatric Association
Prison Law Office
California Public Defenders Association
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Association of County Drug and Alcohol Programs
California Association of Jail Educators
Friends Committee on Legislation
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : In her background statement, the
author states:
"Estimates show that 70% of the State's 146,000 prisoners
are serious substance abusers and that drugs and alcohol
may have led 80% of inmates to crime. At least 30% of
inmates are in prison as a direct result of drug or alcohol
abuse.
"The Little Hoover Commission recently released a report on
incarceration reform. The commission found that drug
treatment, particularly the "therapeutic community" model,
is effective in greatly reducing recidivism. The results
of a recent California study showed that only 17% of
inmates who completed in-custody treatment and the
community based after care program committed new crimes.
In contrast, 66% of untreated inmates committed new crimes
after release from custody. Research clearly establishes
that nothing is to be gained, and much is to be lost, by
locking drug abusing offenders away only to have them
return to crime upon release.
"One of the California Department of Corrections (CDC) drug
treatment programs, called the Civil Addict Program and
operated primarily at the California Rehabilitation Center
(CRC) in Norco, has shown improving success in
rehabilitating inmates in recent years. Recidivism -
meaning the number of released felons who violate parole or
commit new crimes - has dropped from 65% in 1993 to 48% in
1997. Within the rest of the prison system, repeat
offenders and parole violators account for nearly
two-thirds of all incoming inmates.
"CRC has increased, and will continue to increase, the use
of therapeutic community treatment. Unfortunately, CRC
operates far below capacity, largely because inmates in the
program do not receive work-time credits for participation.
"Drug-addicted felons can now serve substantially less time
in confinement by refusing a civil addict commitment and
serving their time in state prison, where under the
work-time credit program, they can earn a day off their
term for every day spent working in the classroom, or in
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job training. As of July, 1997, only 2,200 of the 4,000
beds available at CRC were filled, despite the fact that
CDC estimates that there are another 18,653 felons
currently in the state prison system who may be eligible to
participate in the civil addict program.
"In the Analysis of the 1998-98 Budget Bill , the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) recommended the
enactment of this legislation to encourage additional
court-ordered commitments of narcotic-addicted offenders to
the Civil Addict Program as part of a cost-effective
strategy to reduce rising state incarceration costs.
Specifically, the LAO recommended that the Legislature
restore the system of credits that were eliminated for the
participants in the Civil Addict Program and ensure that
offenders who are eligible for the Civil Addict Program are
identified by county probation officers.
"LAO estimated in the Analysis of the 1997-98 Budget Bill
that the state is annually saving at least $1.7 million in
prison costs with the civil addict program and will
eventually avoid a one-time expenditure of at least $7
million needed to build additional prison space. Millions
more could be saved if the civil addict program could
operate at capacity."
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice writes in
support:
"Persons choosing between civil commitment into the
narcotics addict program and criminal commitment to state
prison should not have to consider that participation in
the civil narcotics treatment programs will mean spending a
longer period of time in confinement. This disadvantage is
both fundamentally unfair and discourages participation in
drug treatment that has been shown to be remarkably
effective in reducing recidivism. SB 994 restores basic
fairness to the law by allowing work-time credits for
persons in the narcotics addicts program."
California Association of Jail Educators write:
"National studies cited by the Califano Report (Columbia
University, 1998) conclude that for every dollar spent by
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the state on substance abuse programs for inmates, ten
dollars are returned in lowered recidivism, decreased
criminal activity, health care costs, etc. Clearly it is
the state's interest to promote a variety of approaches to
the treatment of substance abuse within correctional
settings."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Alquist, Aroner, Bock, Calderon, Campbell, Cardenas,
Cedillo, Corbett, Davis, Ducheny, Dutra, Firebaugh,
Floyd, Gallegos, Hertzberg, Honda, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl,
Lempert, Longville, Machado, Mazzoni, Migden, Papan,
Reyes, Romero, Scott, Shelley, Soto, Steinberg,
Strom-Martin, Thomson, Torlakson, Vincent, Washington,
Wesson, Wiggins, Wildman, Wright, Villaraigosa
NOES: Ackerman, Ashburn, Baldwin, Bates, Battin, Baugh,
Brewer, Briggs, Cardoza, Correa, Cox, Cunneen, Dickerson,
Florez, Granlund, Havice, Jackson, Kaloogian, Leach,
Leonard, Maddox, Maldonado, McClintock, Olberg, Oller,
Robert Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Pescetti, Runner,
Strickland, Thompson, Wayne, Zettel
NOT VOTING: Aanestad, Frusetta, House, Lowenthal, Margett,
Nakano
RJG:cm 8/27/99 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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