Bill Text: CA SB224 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Elderly Parole Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - Died on file pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB224 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB224-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 224 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 19, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Liu
(Coauthor: Senator Leno)
FEBRUARY 13, 2015
An act to add Section 3055 to the Penal Code, relating to parole.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 224, as amended, Liu. Elderly Parole Program.
Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to meet with an
inmate during the 6th year prior to the inmate's minimum eligible
parole release date to document the inmate's activities and conduct
pertinent to parole eligibility. Existing law, the Victims' Bill of
Rights Act of 2008: Marsy's Law, as added by Proposition 9 at the
November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires the panel, or
the board if sitting en banc, to set a release date at the meeting,
unless it determines that consideration of the public and victim's
safety requires a more lengthy period of incarceration, and that a
parole date cannot be fixed at the meeting. Existing law requires the
board to schedule the next parole consideration hearing 15, 10, 7,
5, or 3 years after any hearing at which parole is denied. Existing
law allows the board to advance a hearing set pursuant to these
provisions to an earlier date when a change in circumstances or new
information establishes a reasonable likelihood that consideration of
the public and victim's safety does not require an additional period
of incarceration.
Existing law, as added by Proposition 184, adopted November 8,
1994, and amended by Proposition 36, adopted November 6, 2012,
commonly known as the Three Strikes Law, imposes increased penalties
for certain recidivist offenders. In particular, it requires that, in
addition to any other enhancement or penalty provisions that may
apply, if a defendant has 2 or more prior felony convictions, the
term for the current felony conviction shall be an indeterminate term
of imprisonment in the state prison for life with a minimum term of
the greatest of 3 times the term otherwise provided as punishment for
each current felony conviction subsequent to the 2 or more prior
felony convictions, imprisonment in the state prison for 25 years, or
the term determined by the court for the underlying conviction,
including any applicable enhancement or punishment provisions. The
initiative measure enacting the Three Strikes Law prohibits the
Legislature from amending the act except by a statute passed by a 2/3
vote or by a statute that becomes effective only when approved by
the electors.
This bill would establish the Elderly Parole Program, for
prisoners who are 50 60 years of age or
older and who have served 15 a minimum of 25
years of their sentence. When considering the release of an
inmate who meets this criteria, the bill would require the board to
consider whether age, time served, and diminished physical condition,
if any, have reduced the elderly prisoner's risk for future
violence. The bill would also require the Board of Parole Hearings to
consider whether a prisoner will qualify for the program when
determining the prisoner's next parole suitability hearing. If
the prisoner is found suitable for parole under the Elderly Parole
Program, the bill would require the board to release the individual
on parole, as specified.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) On February 10, 2014, the three-judge court overseeing the
California prison overcrowding class action case (Coleman v. Brown
(2013) 952 F.Supp.2d 901) issued an order that, among other things,
requires the state to implement an Elderly Parole Program so that
prisoners who are 60 years of age or older and who have been
incarcerated at least 25 years on their current sentence will be
referred to the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to determine
suitability for parole. The BPH implemented this Elderly Parole
Program on October 1, 2014.
(b) Under the existing Elderly Parole Program hearings, prisoners
who are 60 years of age or older and who have been incarcerated 25
years or more on their current sentence serving either a determinate
or indeterminate sentence, and who have not yet had an initial parole
suitability hearing are referred by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to the BPH and scheduled for an
Elderly Parole Program Suitability hearing.
(c) Under the existing Elderly Parole Program hearings, prisoners
who are 60 years of age or older and who have been incarcerated 25
years or more on their current term and who have already been denied
parole at the initial sustainability
suitability hearing are considered for a new hearing under the
Elderly Parole Program.
(d) The BPH currently reviews all three-year denials annually to
determine if a more prompt parole consideration hearing should be
considered. Under the existing Elderly Parole Program, the BPH
includes within that annual review whether any prisoner meets the
elder parole eligibility criteria, and if so whether to schedule a
hearing.
(e) Under the existing Elderly Parole Program, prisoners who have
lengthier denial periods can file petitions with the BPH asking that
their hearing be advanced because they meet the eligibility criteria
for elder parole.
(f) The BPH may deny parole if an elderly
prisoner's release would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to
public safety. Parole suitability hearing decisions for elderly
parole inmates are reviewed in the same manner as all other parolees
under eligibility consideration, pursuant to criteria specified by
Section 2281 of Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations.
However, for all Elderly Parole Program hearings, the BPH risk
assessments consider whether age, time served, and diminished
physical condition, if any, reduce elderly prisoners' risk for future
violence.
(g) The number of elderly prisoners in California state prisons
will continue to increase exponentially. In 2013, the CDCR reported a
population of prisoners 50 years of age and older as 27,580 and the
population of prisoners 55 years of age and older as 14,856.
(h) Costs associated with geriatric medical needs begin to
accumulate at age 50, given that there is an overwhelming consensus
that the age of 50 constitutes a point when prisoners are considered
elderly. In 2010, the LAO estimated from other state projections that
incarcerating elderly offenders costs two to three times more than
for the general prison population. In 2010, the average cost of
incarcerating an inmate was approximately $51,000.
(i) Older persons have significantly low arrest rates. In 2001,
the federal arrest rate for persons 40 to 44, inclusive, years of age
was 0.73 percent. The rate decreases by about one-half every five
years, dropping to 0.46 percent for persons 45 to 49, inclusive,
years of age and 0.26 percent for persons 50 to 54, inclusive, years
of age. For persons 50 to 59, inclusive, years of age, the arrest
rate plummets to 0.14 percent.
(j) There is a lower risk of recidivism among elderly prisoners,
according to CDCR statistics. In 2013, CDCR reported that only 33.8
percent of persons who were 60 years of age and older, returned to
prison after one year from being released from prison. Recidivism
rates for persons 50 to 54, inclusive, years of age and 55 to 59,
inclusive, years of age after one year from being released from
prison were 39.9 and 38.3 percent, respectively.
SEC. 2. Section 3055 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
3055. (a) The Elderly Parole Program is hereby established, to be
administered by the Board of Parole Hearings.
(b) A prisoner shall be considered for parole under the Elderly
Parole Program if he or she meets both of the following conditions:
(1) The prisoner is 50 60 years of
age or older.
(2) The prisoner has served 15 a minimum
of 25 years of continued incarceration on his or her
current sentence, including time served prior to
sentencing. serving either a determinate or
indeterminate sentence.
(c) When considering the release of a prisoner specified by
subdivision (b) pursuant to Section 3041, the board shall give
special consideration to whether age, time served, and diminished
physical condition, if any, have reduced the elderly prisoner's risk
for future violence.
(d) When scheduling a parole suitability hearing date pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 3041.5 or when considering a request for
an advance hearing pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 3041.5, the
board shall consider whether the prisoner meets or will meet the
criteria specified in subdivision (b).
(e) If the prisoner is found suitable for parole under the Elderly
Parole Program, the board shall release the individual on parole as
provided in Section 3041.
(e)
(f) This section does not apply to prisoners sentenced
to death or to imprisonment for life without the possibility of
parole.
