Criminal Sentences. Parole, Juvenile Criminal Proceedings and Sentencing.
"Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016"
initiative constitutional amendment & statute
*PASSED*
Official Summary
Allows parole consideration for nonviolent felons. Authorizes sentence credits for rehabilitation, good behavior, and education. Provides juvenile court judge decides whether juvenile 14 yrs or older will be prosecuted as adult.
Fiscal Impact: Net state savings likely in the tens of millions of dollars annually, depending on implementation. Net county costs of likely a few million dollars annually
- Official CA Voter Guide Summary
- Legislative Analyst Office Analysis
- Show Me The Money (as of Oct 22)
- support: $11,425,000
- oppose: $600,000
- Ballotpedia Summary
Notes
- as of June 2016, there are 128,000 people in state prison
- individuals are often convicted of a primary offense plus additional lesser crimes at the same time
- many individuals with determinate sentences (fixed prison sentence, like '10 years' and not, for example, '25 to life') are eligible for parole hearings after serving half their sentence
- juvenile offenders usually have indeterminate sentences
- juveniles can be sent to adult court in these cases:
- seriousness of crime (murder, specific sex offenses)
- at discretion of prosecutor based on criminal history
- at discretion of judge based on hearing
- in 2015, less than 600 youths were sent to adult court
- counties pay for juvenile incarceration in general (just a portion for juvenile state facilities)
- proposal details
- allows parole consideration for persons convicted of nonviolent felonies upon completion of prison term for their primary offense
- as of Sept 2015 approx 30,000 individuals would be affected
- estimated at approx 7,500 each year
- currently serve 2 yrs before parole eligibility, change would make that timeframe 1.5 yrs
- requires Dept of Corrections & Rehabilitation (DOCR) to adopt regulations to implement new parole and sentence credit provisions and certify that they enhance public safety
- requires that youths 14 yrs and over first be given a hearing at juvenile court, not popped up to adult court automatically based on crime or history
- limits transfer of youths to adult court based on significant crime (murder, robbery, certain sex offenses) when 14 or 15, or a felony when 16 or 17
- allows parole consideration for persons convicted of nonviolent felonies upon completion of prison term for their primary offense
- near term, parole expenses would go up