California’s Senate Committee on Public Safety met April 9. The committee is the first step for many criminal justice bills in the legislature.
Sex offender registration for statutory rape
A bid to make convicted statutory rapists register as convicted sex offenders passed California’s Senate Committee on Public Safety April 9.
Senate Bill 1128 would not require registration if the age difference between the victim and the convict is less than 10 years.
“Many minors engaging in these relationships are exploited, manipulated, and fall victim to trafficking and other types of abuse,” said Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Glendale), who authored the bill, at the committee hearing. Sens. Blanca Rubio (D-West Covina) and Susan Rubio (D-West Covina) co-authored.
Existing law already requires sex offender registration for oral copulation, sodomy and digital penetration of minors if the offender is 10 years older than the victim, Portantino said at the committee hearing.
Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta), who sits on the Public Safety Committee, voted for the bill to pass.
Parole supervision bill stalls
An attempt to give law enforcement more information on parolees stalled in the Senate Committee on Public Safety.
Senate Bill 1262 would have mandated more information be shared between the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and local law enforcement. It also would have required parole boards to consider an inmate’s entire criminal history, including past offenses, when deciding to grant parole.
“This bill would ensure law enforcement agencies have the necessary comprehensive information regarding those on post-release community supervision in their counties. The bill is a reasonable approach, and intended to mitigate the opportunity for additional tragedies from occuring by closing some of the loopholes that allow repeat offenders who deliberately abuse the system,” bill author Sen. Bob Archuleta (D-Norwalk) said at the committee hearing.
It failed with one aye vote, one nay vote, and three members of the committee not voting.
Seyarto was the only aye vote.
The language of the bill was originally passed in 2017, but vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Oakland) said the veto was due to a technical violation.
Skinner, who was the only nay vote, said she was concerned with over-incarceration. She also said she did not want to put into statute the requirement to consider an entire criminal history.
“Maybe we should be looking at only their history of violent crime, and maybe we should not be looking at their history of an arrest versus a conviction. I do not want to put into statute such rigidity that, in effect, goes counter to rulings from the California Supreme Court,” Skinner said.
The committee could grant reconsideration to the bill later, said Sen. Aisha Wahab (D- Fremont).
Stolen property sentencing enhancements
The committee unanimously passed a bill that would implement new sentencing enhancements for defendants who sell stolen property.
Senate Bill 1416 author Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) said that the enhancements would be applied to people that run online shops and encourage others to steal to supply their inventory.
The enhancements would give one additional year in prison if the stolen property value is more than $50,000, two years if the value exceeds $200,000, three years if the value exceeds $1 million, and four years if the value exceeds $3 million.
“By enhancing the criminal penalties associated with organized retail theft, SB 1416 will better safeguard California’s businesses by deterring those who would hope to profit from organized retail theft,” said Newman.
