Bill Text: CA AB852 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Sentencing: bias.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2023-05-24 - Referred to Com. on PUB S. [AB852 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB852-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 852
| Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer |
February 14, 2023 |
An act to add Section 17.3 to the Penal Code, relating to crimes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 852, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer.
Sentencing: bias.
Under existing law, a conviction or sentence is unlawfully imposed on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin if the defendant proves, among other things, that the defendant was charged or convicted of a more serious offense than defendants of other races, ethnicities, or national origins, or received a longer or more severe sentence, and the evidence establishes that the prosecution more frequently sought or obtained convictions for more serious offenses against people who share the defendant’s race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified, or if a longer or more severe sentence was more frequently imposed on defendants of a particular race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to rectify racial bias, as specified. The bill would require courts, whenever they have
discretion to determine a sentence, to consider the disparate impact on historically disenfranchised and system-impacted populations.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 17.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:17.3.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to rectify the racial bias that has historically permeated our criminal justice system as documented by the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.(b) Whenever the court has discretion to determine the appropriate sentence according to relevant statutes and the sentencing rules of the Judicial Council, the court presiding over a criminal matter shall consider the disparate impact on historically disenfranchised and system-impacted populations.
