BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON Public Safety
Senator John Vasconcellos, Chair S
1999-2000 Regular Session B
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SB 1117 (Vasconcellos) 7
As Introduced February 26, 1999
Hearing date: May 11, 1999
Penal Code
RC:br
CORRECTIONS, REHABILITATION AND PUBLIC SAFETY
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 716 (Lee) - Chapter 49, Statutes of
1995
SB 42 (Nejedly) - Chapter 1139, Statutes
of 1976
Support: Unknown
Opposition:None known
NOTE: THIS ANALYSIS REFLECTS AUTHOR'S AMENDMENTS TO BE
OFFERED IN COMMITTEE. (SEE COMMENT 1.)
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD THE PURPOSE OF IMPRISONMENT FOR CRIME BE CHANGED FROM "IMPRISONMENT" TO
"PROMOTING THE PUBLIC SAFETY OF ALL CALIFORNIANS BY A SMART COMPREHENSIVE
PROGRAM OF PREVENTION, REHABILITATION AND PUNISHMENT"?
SHOULD THE LEGISLATURE ENCOURAGE PROGRAMS AND POLICIES THAT ARE DESIGNED TO
REHABILITATE NONVIOLENT, FIRST-TIME FELONY OFFENDERS TO REDUCE THE RATE OF
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SB 1117 (Vaconcellos)
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RECIDIVISM AND PROMOTE THE PUBLIC SAFETY?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to change the purpose of
imprisonment for crime from "punishment" to "promoting the
public safety of all Californians by a smart comprehensive
program of prevention, rehabilitation and punishment"; for
the Legislature to encourage policies and programs that are
designed to rehabilitate nonviolent, first-time felony
offenders to reduce the rate of recidivism and promote the
public safety.
Under existing law , the Legislature finds and declares that
the purpose of imprisonment for crime is punishment and
declares the importance of uniformity in sentencing.
(Penal Code section 1170)
This bill changes the purpose of imprisonment for crime
from "punishment" to the "promotion of public safety for
all Californians by a smart, comprehensive program of
prevention, rehabilitation and punishment."
This bill declares that the Legislature encourages programs
and policies that are designed to rehabilitate nonviolent,
first-time felony offenders to reduce the rate of
recidivism and promote the public safety.
COMMENTS
1. Author's Amendments
The author's amendments delete altogether the current
version of the bill as introduced and insert the following:
Amendment to Penal Code section 1170:
1170. (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the
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purpose of imprisonment is punishment prevention,
punishment and rehabilitation. This purpose is best
accomplished by a smart comprehensive program to promote
the public safety of all Californians. This is
particularly true because most Californians who are
convicted of felonies will finish serving their term of
incarceration eventually and be released into the community
amidst all Californians. It is critical for improving the
public safety of all Californians that during her/his time
in state prison, an inmate is provided services which
afford her/him the most promise of becoming able to lead a
constructive, law-abiding life upon release from prison.
In addition, this purpose is best served by terms
proportionate to the seriousness of the offense with
provision for uniformity in the sentences of offenders
committing the same offense under similar circumstances.
The Legislature further finds and declares that the
elimination of disparity and the provision of uniformity of
sentences can best be achieved by determinate sentences
fixed by statute in proportion to the seriousness of the
offense as determined by the Legislature to be imposed by
the court with specified discretion.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to preclude
include programs, including such as educational , vocational
and drug treatment programs, that are designed to
rehabilitate nonviolent, first-time felony offenders,
reduce the rate of recidivism and promote the public
safety . The Legislature encourages the development of
policies and programs designed to educate and rehabilitate
nonviolent, first-time felony offenders consistent with the
purpose of imprisonment and the intent to reduce the rate
of recidivism and promote the public safety .
2. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
The public safety of all Californians is best served by a
state prison system that seeks
to rehabilitate offenders who will eventually be released
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back into our midst. By encouraging educational,
vocational and drug treatment programs that are designed
to rehabilitate nonviolent, first-time felony offenders,
the rate of recidivism will be reduced and create a safer
California for all its citizens. It is in the best
interest of all Californians that the state correctional
system make every attempt to, the maximum extent feasible
and valuable, reduce the rate of recidivism. The prison
system in this state has exceeded its maximum capacity,
and immediate action towards reducing the inmate
population is necessary. SB 1117 recognizes the role
that prevention and rehabilitation must play in reducing
the overall amount of crime in society.
3. Purpose of Incarceration in California State Prisons
California adopted an indeterminate sentence law (former
Penal Code section 1168) in 1917. It divested the trial
judge of power to fix the term of imprisonment for offenses
punishable by imprisonment in a State prison, and gave this
power to the Adult Authority (noted in California Criminal
Law 2d Ed. , Witkin and Epstein).
The purposes of the change in the law, and its
constitutionality, were fully considered in the early
leading case of In re Lee (1918) 177 C. 690, 792, 171 p.
958: "It is generally recognized by the courts and by
modern penologists that the purpose of the indeterminate
sentence law, like other modern laws in relation to the
administration of the criminal law, is to mitigate the
punishment which would otherwise be imposed upon the
offender. These laws place emphasis upon the reformation
of the offender. They seek to make the punishment fit the
criminal rather than the crime. They endeavor to put
before the prisoner great incentive to well-doing in order
that his will to do well should be strengthened and
confirmed by the habit of well-doing. Instead of trying to
break the will of the offender and make him submissive, the
purpose is to strengthen his will to do right and lessen
his temptation to do wrong."
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The Indeterminate Sentence Law was repealed and replaced by
the Determinate Sentencing Law, which became operative on
July 1, 1977 (SB 42 [Nejedly], Chapter 1139, Statutes of
1976). Since that time, Penal Code section 1170 has stated
that "the Legislature finds and declares that the purpose
of imprisonment for crime is punishment. This purpose is
best served by terms proportionate to the seriousness of
the offense with provision for uniformity in the sentences
of offenders committing the same offense under similar
circumstances. The Legislature further finds and declares
that the elimination of disparity and the provision of
uniformity of sentences can best be achieved by determinate
sentences fixed by statute in proportion to the seriousness
of the offense as determined by the Legislature to be
imposed by the court with specified discretion."
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Effective January 1, 1996, the following addition to
section 1170 took effect: Section 1170 "shall not be
construed to preclude programs, including educational
programs, that are designed to rehabilitate nonviolent,
first-time felony offenders. The Legislature encourages
the development of policies and programs designed to
educate and rehabilitate nonviolent, first-time felony
offenders consistent with the purpose of imprisonment."
Some inmates are incarcerated for periods which do not fit
in the determinate sentencing scheme - life with the
possibility of parole, for example, is an indeterminate
sentence.
4. Little Hoover Commission Report (January 1994)
At the request of Senator Robert Presley, the Little Hoover
Commission embarked on a study of the adult criminal
justice system in May 1993 entitled, "Putting Violence
Behind Bars: Redefining the Role of California's Prisons."
According to the report:
If crime stems from poverty, ignorance, drugs and
neglectful or abusive upbringing, then should not
society treat criminals as afflicted persons who need
to be treated and cured? If many rise above similar
dismal backgrounds without resorting to a life of
crime, then should criminals be viewed as soulless
deviants who must be segregated from society
permanently? The argument between the factions formed
around these very different perspectives seems
inexhaustible - and does little to advance practical
solutions for how California should cope with crime.
The tough-on-crime wave of the '80s and '90s made
"rehabilitation" a disfavored concept. The reasoning
was blunt: Why should criminals be rewarded with free
training and education? And since change can rarely
be imposed from the outside, failure seemed to be the
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result more often than success. But the reality is
that the present system puts almost 90 percent of
prisoners back on the street at some point. Without
some effort to make them literate, instill a work
ethic or provide them mental stability, they all too
often return to crime and simply prey upon the public
yet again.
When it passed the Legislature, the Determinate
Sentencing Act also explicitly abandoned the
long-standing purpose of prison as rehabilitation and
instead established punishment as the stated goal.
"There was no evidence that the state of the sciences
enabled anyone to diagnose a criminal's crime-causing
problem, treat it, cure it or predict
non-repetition,"<1> said the act's drafters in a
subsequent law review article.
5. Related Legislation
SB 128 (Polanco), currently in Senate Appropriations, also
amends Penal Code section 1170 (2). Should a conflict
exist between the two bills, they will have to be
reconciled at some point.
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<1> Raymond I. Parnas and Michael B. Salerno, "The
Influence Behind, Substance and Impact of the New
Determinate Sentencing Law in California," UC Davis Law
Review, 1978, pp 29-4