Maureen Baldwin Law Blog
The California re-alignment legislation, also known as AB 109, went into effect beginning on October 1, 2011. The purpose of this legislation is to get lower level offenders out of the state prisons, and to keep parolees who have violated parole for a non-strike, non-violent, non-sex offense from being returned to custody. In 1994, California passed the harshest 3 strike law in the country. Under the terms of this law, if a person is convicted of 2 serious or violent offenses, as defined by the code, and then commits another felony, that person is to be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison at a minimum. Now, 17 years later, some prisons have the look of convalescent jails, with an aging and unhealthy prison population. Many people who commit crimes do so as a result of substance abuse disorders. There are many people in the prison system with lifestyle diseases such as hepatitis. when an inmate is in the custody of the state, the state is also supposed to care for that inmate if he becomes sick. Because of the large amount of inmates facing long sentences for "strikes", now that 17 years have passed, cost of medical care for prison inmates is predictably high. Cost of housing inmates in CA is so high that CA began to "export" prisoners to out-of-state or private prisons.
Re-alignment is meant to bring things back to a reasonable cost. It still does not affect the sentences of three-strikers. But the average first-termer for an offense such as auto burglary or drug sales will now go to jail for several years rather than prison. Credits given for time served in prison is increased for non-violent, non-sex, non-strike prisoners and those in the county jail. Parole is no longer given for simple offenses. Instead there is a system similar to probation. The laws are still being changed as the courts try to "get the bugs" out of the new system.
The result to people who may have normally been sent to jail is that now courts are considering alternative sentences, such as home detention, in order to keep bed-space open and costs down. The Three Strikes Law did not end violent or serious crime. It contributed to the high cost of the CA prison system. We do not know yet if courts and prosecutors will use re-alignment as an opportunity to attempt to assist convicted criminals in bona fide rehabilitation efforts. I would hope this will be the result, but CA's political system may make this difficult.
Assembly Bill 109 has proposed a law that would change the requirements for prison sentences--apparently in an attempt to ease prison overcrowding and to lower the huge chunk of money California taxpayers pay for the huge prison budget. Under current law, a felony is an offense that is punishable by any amount of "time" over one year. A crime punishable by one year or less per statute is a misdemeanor. Under the new bill, crimes currently punishable by either 16 mos, 2 years, or 3 years in the state prison would generally be punishable in the county jail instead. Many of these crimes are drug possessions, theft crimes, possession of stolen property,and other crimes that are not considered serious or violent crimes.
The new law would not affect people convicted of serious or violent felonies, sex crimes, or violations of sex registration laws (Megan's Law).Counties would then contract with the state Departement of Corrections and Rehabilitation for housing of prisoners in the county jails. If this bill passes, the suggested effective date is July 11, 2011
California has been in the position for many years now of wanting tough sentences for people who commit crimes. I have heard people say regarding California; "Go there on vacation--leave on probation!". I have also heard inmates refer to California as "the prison state" as opposed to "the golden state"! This desire for tough sentencing has resulted in high prison populations, many people on parole, many people violating parole and getting sent back to prison. This means, of course, more money for the prison budget, and less money for programs and education. If this bill passes, it would mean that California is actually planning to do something about the increasing amounts needed each year to imprison felons and punish parolees.
I expect since this would place the counties in the position of supervising what were previously low-level state prisoners, it could potentially affect the prosecution of misdemeanors, in a trickle-down effect. One can only hope that eventually more funding becomes available for education and for alternative programs aimed at turning around those people who end up in prison due to a combination of a poor education, crime in the neighborhood, and drug use.
