California Assembly Bill AB1376 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1376AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bass FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act relating to sentencing. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1376, as amended, Bass. Sentencing. Existing law prescribes various penalties for criminal offenses.  This bill would state the Legislature's findings and declarations regarding the general purposes of the law on sentencing with regard to decisions affecting the sentencing of offenders, matters affecting the administration of the sentencing system, and matters regarding rehabilitation and recidivism. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would create an independent, multijurisdictional body to, among other things, develop sentencing guidelines and provide a nonpartisan forum for sentencing policy development.   This bill would create an independent, multijurisdictional body to provide a nonpartisan forum for statewide policy development, information development, research, and planning concerning criminal sentences and their effects.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   There is hereby established an independent, multijurisdictional body to provide a nonpartisan forum for statewide policy development, information development, research, and planning concerning criminal sentences and their effects.   SECTION 1.   The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: The general purposes of the law on sentencing, applicable to all official actors in the sentencing system, are the following: (a) With respect to decisions affecting the sentencing of individual offenders, those purposes are all of the following: (1) To render sentences in all cases within a range of severity proportionate to the gravity of offenses, the harms done to crime victims, and the blameworthiness of offenders. (2) When reasonably feasible, to achieve offender rehabilitation, general deterrence, incapacitation of dangerous offenders, restoration of crime victims and communities, and reintegration of offenders into the law-abiding community. (3) To render sentences no more severe than necessary to achieve the applicable purposes in paragraphs (1) and (2). (b) With respect to matters affecting the administration of the sentencing system, those purposes are all of the following: (1) To preserve judicial discretion to individualize sentences within a framework of law. (2) To produce sentences that are uniform in their reasoned pursuit of the specified in subdivision (a). (3) To eliminate inequities in sentencing across populations. (4) To encourage the use of intermediate sanctions. (5) To ensure that adequate resources are available for carrying out sentences imposed and that rational priorities are established for the use of those resources. (6) To ensure that all criminal sanctions are administered in a humane fashion and that incarcerated offenders are provided reasonable benefits of subsistence, personal safety, medical and mental health care, and opportunities to rehabilitate themselves. (7) To promote research on sentencing policy and practices, including assessments of the effectiveness of criminal sanctions as measured against their purposes and of the effects of criminal sanctions upon families and communities. (8) To increase the transparency of the sentencing and corrections system, its accountability to the public, and the legitimacy of its operations as perceived by all affected communities. (c) To promote rehabilitation and reduce recidivism among offenders.   SEC. 2.   It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would create an independent, multijurisdictional body to do all of the following: (a) Develop sentencing guidelines. (b) Collaborate over time with the trial and appellate courts in the development of a common law of sentencing within the legislative framework. (c) Provide a nonpartisan forum for statewide policy development, information development, research, and planning concerning criminal sentences and their effects. (d) Assemble and draw upon sources of knowledge, experience, and community values from all sectors of the criminal justice system, the public at large, and other jurisdictions. (e) Perform its work and provide explanations for its actions consistent with the purposes of the sentencing system. (f) Ensure that all these efforts take place on a permanent and ongoing basis with the expectation that the sentencing system must strive continually to evaluate itself, evolve, and improve.