Prison Reform Bills on Three Strikes and Sex Offenses Die in Assembly

Everyone recognizes that the current sentencing system is broken, and yet in an election year, two needed reform measures died in the supposedly liberal Assembly.

Last year, the legislature failed to put the death penalty measure, that would have altered the sentencing and commuted death sentences to life without parole, before the voters.  That measure is now being circulated as an initiative that would qualify for the November ballot.

The legislation would have amended “the ‘Three Strikes’ Law, subject to voter approval, to require that the current conviction be a ‘serious’ or ‘violent’ felony in order to subject a defendant to an enhanced sentence under the 25-years-to-life (third strike) provisions.”

It also “[r]equires the current conviction to be a serious or violent felony in order for the third strike (25-years-to-life term) provisions of the Three Strikes Law to apply.”

The Legislative Analyst’s Office analysis of this legislation is that it would likely save in the tens of millions of dollars in reduced incarcerations, depending on the number of sentences reduced.  In 2011, there were 148 third strikes that were committed to state prison.  “Annualizing this figure, assuming 30% have a non-violent, non-serious third strike (based on the current percentage of 8,813 third-strikers whose third strike was a non-serious/non-violent offense), requiring a third strike offense to be violent or serious could reduce the lifer population by about 60 inmates per year, and about 1,000 in 20 years, resulting in annual savings in the range of $15 million in 10 years, increasing annually to about $50 million in 20 years.”

“This bill is necessary because current three strikes law has led to many unjust sentences over the past 18 years that are not proportionate to the offense. As an advocate for fair and just society, this reality is quite troubling,” Assemblymember Mike Davis said Monday.

He cited the millions in annual savings, up to $15 million a year, and argued, “These resources could be better spent by investing in education, rehabilitation and other meaningful economic development incentives of our state.”

Assemblymember Davis argued, “At a time with high prison overcrowding in this state, which has come at great cost to the taxpayer, AB 327 is common sense policy for California.  The original intent of ‘Three Strikes’ was to protect the public from violent offenders by extending the sentences of violent offenders.”

“Current policy, however, has gone beyond this intent by extending the sentences of all third-time felony offenders, not simply those for violent or serious felony offenders,” he continued.  “Ultimately, this has led to unfair sentencing, as well as prison overcrowding.  The solution is simple: amend ‘Three Strikes’ so that the third strike must be a ‘serious’ or ‘violent’ felony.  This will help California direct its resources toward the real threat to public safety.”

AB 327 would ask voters to require that a third strike be a serious or violent felony before an offender could be sentenced to a 25-to-life prison term under California’s three strikes law.

Exceptions would be made under AB 327, however, for offenders whose previous crimes included murder, a sex crime against a child, a sexually violent offense, or various other heinous acts.

Republicans defended the current legislation.

“This is a grave issue,” said Assemblyman Jim Nielsen. “Three strikes came to pass because repeat, unrehabilitated offenders were preying again and again and again upon our families, our children, the people of our community. And it has worked.”

Meanwhile, Republican Assemblymember Donald Wagner argued, “As a society we have a right to say, ‘We’re tired of you and we’re going to deal with you harshly.’ “

The question is really whether we should be doing that in cases that involve relatively minor crimes.  For instance, in recent weeks, Yolo County has seen possible third-strike cases for taking scrap metal out of a recycling receptacle, for possession of drugs, not to mention the infamous cheese case where an individual took a $3.99 bag of shredded cheese from a Nugget store.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano said on Monday that the three strikes law has strayed from its original intent. For example, he cited cases where third-strike offenders have been sentenced for “crimes against property,” drugs and other offenses, including drunken driving convictions.

“There are very egregious crimes on one side; there are non-violent, minor crimes on the other,” he said. “We do need to review this, reform it. I say let the voters decide.”

The Assembly also defeated a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano that would have created a tiered sex-offender registration system.

Under current law, people convicted of various sex offenses are required to register with the state for life.

Under the provisions of this law, it would have established “a four-tiered registration system for sex offenders for periods of 10 years, 20 years, or life and additionally creates an ‘inactive registration’ tier for those individuals not otherwise registered.”

Tier One registrants are those not convicted of either a violent crime or the crime of molesting a minor – they would be subject to registration requirements for a period of ten years.  They would also be required not to have committed a further offense during that ten-year period.

The second tier would subject them to a twenty-year period, and these are higher risk individuals who were convicted of a violent registerable offense, or the person was convicted of molestation – they would be required not to be convicted of another registerable offense or violent felony for a twenty-year period.

The third tier would have to register for life.  These are people who are high risk, who may be repeat offenders, and classified as sexually violent predators (SVP).

According to the legislation, a third tier offender is described: “The person was a Tier Two registrant and subsequently was convicted of more than one specified felony, or the person was convicted of any specified registerable offense after becoming a Tier Two offender after having previously been a Tier One offender.”

The law also specified that “annoying or molesting a minor may not be included as a Tier One registrant.”

Assemblymember Ammiano argued, “”AB 625 creates a three-tier registration system for persons required to register under the state Sex Offender Registration Act based on the crime of conviction, criminal history, and other risk factors so that the state and local governments can concentrate on more closely monitoring high and moderate risk sex offenders.”

“California is one of the few states that requires lifetime registration with no discernment for the type of offense, and California also does not allow people to petition for removal from the list even when their offenses are not sexually violent or predatory, and they have no other violations,” he said..  “This one-size-fits-all approach puts a strain on state and local resources, casts all registrants in the same predatory mold, and perpetuates misinformation.”

He concluded: “This bill replaces the existing mandatory lifetime registration requirements for persons convicted of specified sex crimes and instead establishes three tiers of registration for periods of 10 years, 20 years, and life.”

Opponents of the bill claimed that allowing some sex registrants to be placed on an inactive status would weaken current law and make communities less safe.

—David M. Greenwald reporting