BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1117
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 13, 1999
Counsel: Bruce E. Chan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mike Honda, Chair
SB 1117 (Vasconcellos) - As Amended: July 7, 1999
SUMMARY : Declares that the purpose of prison is punishment,
prevention, and rehabilitation. Specifically, this bill :
1)Adds crime prevention and rehabilitation to the stated
purposes of imprisonment.
2)Declares that an effective program of public safety includes a
comprehensive approach to reduce recidivism - this includes,
but is not limited to, educational, vocational, and drug
treatment programs.
3)Declares that in order to improve public safety, prisoners
must be provided with services in order to lead constructive,
law-abiding lives upon release.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares that the purpose of imprisonment for crime is
punishment. This purpose is best served by terms that are
proportionate to the seriousness of the offense while at the
same time providing for uniformity in sentences of offenders
committing the same offense under similar circumstances.
(Penal Code Section 1170(a)(1).)
2)Declares that it is the Legislature's intent to develop
policies and programs designed to educate and rehabilitate
non-violent, first-time felony offenders consistent with the
purpose of imprisonment. (Penal Code Section 1170(a)(2).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "As part of an
effort to reorient all our operations toward promoting public
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safety, SB 1117 expands the purpose of our state prison system
from punishment alone to the prevention, rehabilitation and
punishment of crime. SB 1117 also declares that the
Legislature encourages educational, vocational and drug
treatment programs designed to rehabilitate non-violent,
first-time felony offenders so as to reduce the rate of
recidivism and promote our public safety. By focusing nearly
exclusively on punishment, our state prison system has become
a generator of better criminals, rather than better citizens.
Because California experiences the highest recidivism rate in
the country, at 62%, we are jeopardizing the safety of our
citizens by returning inmates who are likely to re-offend. Of
the 160,000 inmates locked away in California's 33
penitentiaries, more than half will be released within 24
months. More than half of these parolees will be convicted of
another crime within two years of their release date. Studies
show that most of these inmates will be sent home without the
skills they need to succeed; 50% are illiterate, 85% are
substance abusers and a significant majority lack education or
job skills. A fundamental rethinking of our system of crime
and punishment is crucial in order to ensure that not only are
criminals punished for their crimes, but that those that
return to our communities are properly treated to reduce the
overall amount of harm to themselves and to society. SB 1117
recognizes the important role that prevention and
rehabilitation must play alongside punishment to reduce the
overall amount of crime in society."
2)Incarceration in California State Prisons: California adopted
an indeterminate sentence law in 1917, 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. 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."
Effective January 1, 1996, the following language was added:
"It 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
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to educate and rehabilitate nonviolent, first-time felony
offenders consistent with the purpose of imprisonment."
(Penal Code Section 1170.)
3)Little Hoover Commission Report: In 1993, at the request of
Senator Robert Presley, the Little Hoover Commission embarked
on a study of the adult criminal justice system, "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 result more often than
success. But the reality is that the present system puts
almost 90% 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."
4)Prior Legislation : AB 716 (Lee), Chapter 49, Statutes of
1995, clarified that the imposition of a uniform penalty that
includes a prison sentence does not preclude programs that are
designed to rehabilitate nonviolent, first-time felony
offenders.
5)Statement In Opposition: According to the Doris Tate Crime
Victims Bureau, "The current penal code does not preclude
programs designed to rehabilitate inmates, especially
non-violent, first time offenders . . . In recent history,
California attempted to have rehabilitation as the primary
function of incarceration. This resulted in increasing crime
rates, which always result in more innocent people harmed.
Since the adoption of punishment as the primary goal of
imprisonment, and with the implementation of tough on crime
laws, the crime rate has begun to decrease at a steady rate.
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This can only mean fewer citizens have been victimized. Since
the recent changes in dealing with criminals are working so
well to insure the public safety, we believe that only
criminals would benefit by this change to the current penal
code."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Opposition
Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau
Analysis Prepared by : Bruce Chan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744