Bill Text: CA SB1070 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Youth offender parole hearings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Assembly without further action. [SB1070 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB1070-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1070 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 16, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senators Hancock and Lara
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to amend Sections 3051 and 4801 of the Penal Code, relating
to parole.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1070, as amended, Hancock. Youth offender parole hearings.
Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a
youth offender parole hearing for offenders sentenced to state prison
who committed specified crimes when they were under 23 years of age.
Existing law requires these hearings to be granted during specified
years of incarceration. Existing law, as added by initiative
statute, imposes a term of confinement in the state prison for life
without the possibility of parole or, at the discretion of the court,
25 years to life, on a defendant who was 16 years of age or older
and under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime
for which he or she was found guilty of murder in the first degree,
if specified special circumstances have been found true. Existing
case law prohibits a juvenile convicted of a homicide offense from
being sentenced to life in prison without parole absent consideration
of the juvenile's special circumstances in light of the principles
and purposes of juvenile sentencing.
This bill would recast those provisions, and instead require the
youth offender parole hearings following completion of the specified
year of incarceration. This bill would provide that these hearings
are not required for inmates serving a determinate sentence who will
be released by operation of law pursuant to his or her determinate
term less than 180 days from his or her scheduled hearing date.
This bill would make a person who was convicted of a
controlling offense that was committed before the person had attained
18 years of age and for which a life sentence without the
possibility of parole has been imposed eligible for release on parole
by the board during his or her 25th year of incarceration at a youth
offender parole hearing. The bill would require the board to
complete all hearings for individuals who become eligible to have
their parole suitability considered at a youth offender parole
hearing by this bill by January 1, 2019. The bill would make other
technical, nonsubstantive changes.
Vote: 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 3051 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
3051. (a) (1) A youth offender parole hearing is a hearing by the
Board of Parole Hearings for the purpose of reviewing the parole
suitability of any prisoner who was under 23 years of age,
or as specified in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) was under 18
years of age, age at the time of his or her
controlling offense.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
shall apply:
(A) "Incarceration" means detention in a city or county jail, a
local juvenile facility, a mental health facility, a Division of
Juvenile Justice facility, or a Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation facility.
(B) "Controlling offense" means the offense or enhancement for
which any sentencing court imposed the longest term of imprisonment.
(b) (1) Unless previously released pursuant to other statutory
provisions or court orders, an inmate who was convicted of a
controlling offense that was committed before the inmate had attained
23 years of age and for which the sentence is a determinate sentence
shall be eligible for release on parole following completion of his
or her 15th year of incarceration, upon being granted parole by the
board, pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041,
at a youth offender parole hearing.
(2) Unless previously released or entitled to an earlier parole
consideration hearing pursuant to other statutory provisions or court
orders, an inmate who was convicted of a controlling offense that
was committed before the inmate had attained 23 years of age and for
which the sentence is a life term of less than 25 years to life shall
be eligible for release on parole following completion of his or her
20th year of incarceration upon being granted parole by the board,
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041, at a
youth offender parole hearing.
(3) Unless previously released or entitled to an earlier parole
consideration hearing pursuant to other statutory provisions or court
orders, an inmate who was convicted of a controlling offense that
was committed before the inmate had attained 23 years of age and for
which the sentence is a life term of 25 years to life shall be
eligible for release on parole following completion of his or her
25th year of incarceration upon being granted parole by the board,
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041, at a
youth offender parole hearing.
(4) This section shall not apply to an inmate serving a
determinate sentence if he or she will be released by operation of
law pursuant to his or her determinate term less than 180 days from
his or her scheduled hearing date.
(5) A person who was convicted of a controlling offense that was
committed before the person had attained 18 years of age and for
which the sentence is life without the possibility of parole shall be
eligible for release on parole by the board during his or her 25th
year of incarceration at a youth offender parole hearing, unless
previously released or entitled to an earlier parole consideration
hearing pursuant to other statutory provisions.
(c) An individual subject to this section shall meet with the
board pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3041.
(d) The board shall conduct a youth offender parole hearing to
consider release. At the youth offender parole hearing, the board
shall release the individual on parole as provided in Section 3041,
except that the board shall act in accordance with subdivision (c) of
Section 4801.
(e) The youth offender parole hearing to consider release shall
provide for a meaningful opportunity to obtain release. The board
shall review and, as necessary, revise existing regulations and adopt
new regulations regarding determinations of suitability made
pursuant to this section, subdivision (c) of Section 4801, and other
related topics, consistent with relevant case law, in order to
provide that meaningful opportunity for release.
(f) (1) In assessing growth and maturity, psychological
evaluations and risk assessment instruments, if used by the board,
shall be administered by licensed psychologists employed by the board
and shall take into consideration the diminished culpability of
youth as compared to that of adults, the hallmark features of youth,
and any subsequent growth and increased maturity of the individual.
(2) Family members, friends, school personnel, faith leaders, and
representatives from community-based organizations with knowledge
about the individual before the crime or his or her growth and
maturity since the time of the crime may submit statements for review
by the board.
(3) This section is not intended to alter the rights of victims at
parole hearings.
(g) If parole is not granted, the board shall set the time for a
subsequent youth offender parole hearing in accordance with paragraph
(3) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041.5. In exercising its
discretion pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) and
subdivision (d) of Section 3041.5, the board shall consider the
factors in subdivision (c) of Section 4801. A subsequent youth
offender parole hearing shall not be necessary if the offender is
released pursuant to other statutory provisions prior to the date of
the subsequent hearing.
(h) This section shall not apply to cases in which sentencing
occurs pursuant to Section 1170.12, subdivisions (b) to (i),
inclusive, of Section 667, or Section 667.61, or to cases in which an
individual is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole for a controlling offense that was committed after
the person had attained 18 years of age. parole.
This section shall not apply to an individual to whom this section
would otherwise apply, but who, subsequent to attaining 23 years of
age, commits an additional crime for which malice aforethought is a
necessary element of the crime or for which the individual is
sentenced to life in prison.
(i) (1) The board shall complete all youth offender parole
hearings for individuals who became entitled to have their parole
suitability considered at a youth offender parole hearing prior to
the effective date of the act that added paragraph (2) by July 1,
2015.
(2) (A) The board shall complete all youth offender parole
hearings for individuals who were sentenced to indeterminate life
terms and who become entitled to have their parole suitability
considered at a youth offender parole hearing on the effective date
of the act that added this paragraph by July 1, 2017.
(B) The board shall complete all youth offender parole hearings
for individuals who were sentenced to determinate terms and who
become entitled to have their parole suitability considered at a
youth offender parole hearing on the effective date of the act that
added this paragraph by July 1, 2021. The board shall, for all
individuals described in this subparagraph, conduct the consultation
described in subdivision (a) of Section 3041 before July 1, 2017.
(3) The board shall complete, by July 1, 2019, all youth offender
parole hearings for individuals who were sentenced to terms of life
without the possibility of parole who became entitled to have their
parole suitability considered at a youth offender parole hearing on
January 1, 2017.
SEC. 2. Section 4801 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
4801. (a) The Board of Parole Hearings may report to the
Governor, from time to time, the names of any and all persons
imprisoned in any state prison who, in its judgment, ought to have a
commutation of sentence or be pardoned and set at liberty on account
of good conduct, or unusual term of sentence, or any other cause,
including evidence of intimate partner battering and its effects. For
purposes of this section, "intimate partner battering and its
effects" may include evidence of the nature and effects of physical,
emotional, or mental abuse upon the beliefs, perceptions, or behavior
of victims of domestic violence if it appears the criminal behavior
was the result of that victimization.
(b) (1) The board, in reviewing a prisoner's suitability for
parole pursuant to Section 3041.5, shall give great weight to any
information or evidence that, at the time of the commission of the
crime, the prisoner had experienced intimate partner battering, but
was convicted of an offense that occurred prior to August 29, 1996.
The board shall state on the record the information or evidence that
it considered pursuant to this subdivision, and the reasons for the
parole decision. The board shall annually report to the Legislature
and the Governor on the cases the board considered pursuant to this
subdivision during the previous year, including the board's decisions
and the specific and detailed findings of its investigations of
these cases.
(2) The report for the Legislature to be submitted pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
(3) The fact that a prisoner has presented evidence of intimate
partner battering cannot be used to support a finding that the
prisoner lacks insight into his or her crime and its causes.
(c) When a prisoner committed his or her controlling offense, as
defined in subdivision (a) of Section 3051, prior to attaining 23
years of age, the board, in reviewing a prisoner's suitability for
parole pursuant to Section 3041.5, shall give great weight to the
diminished culpability of youth as compared to adults, the hallmark
features of youth, and any subsequent growth and increased maturity
of the prisoner in accordance with relevant case law.
