Senate OKs sentencing reform
Lawmakers move to repeal enhancements for prior drug crimes and bar incarceration of young children.
SACRAMENTO — The state Senate on Monday approved a bill that would repeal three-year mandatory sentence enhancements for some prior drug convictions, a move some Democratic lawmakers saw as a way to counteract U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions’ return to tough-on-crime penalties.
Senate Bill 180, co-authored by Sens. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), moved out of the Senate on a 22-13 vote, part of a reform package that they say would protect juveniles and create parity in the justice system. It now heads to the Assembly.
Another of those bills, SB 439, passed on a 23-13 vote and would prohibit authorities from incarcerating children 11 and younger.
On the Senate floor, Republican lawmakers urged Democratic colleagues not to water down sentencing laws, pointing to the deadly attack on Whittier police officers allegedly carried out by a paroled gang member.
But supporters of the legislation called it a modest reversal of harmful policy under the so-called war on drugs, which they said disproportionately targeted people of color and did not stop the flow of narcotics. Some said it also appeared that the policy would be revived by Sessions, who last week told federal prosecutors to pursue “the most serious, readily provable offense” in drug cases.
The concerns were echoed by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who on Tuesday spoke about Sessions’ comments at the Center for American Progress’ Ideas Conference in Washington. She talked about her time in the Alameda County district attorney’s office during the height of the crack epidemic, saying there were so many nonviolent offenders being charged then that prosecutors might have only five minutes to review a case file before appearing in court.
The war on drugs “offered taxpayers a bad return on investment, it was bad for public safety, it was bad for budgets and our economy, and it was bad for people of color and those struggling to make ends meet,” Harris said.
Under current California law, a person convicted for sale or possession for sale of a small amount of drugs can face a sentence of three to five years incarceration, plus an additional three years in jail for each prior conviction for similar drug offenses.
Mitchell said research showed such mandatory enhancements tear apart families and do not stop offenders from breaking the law.
“Enhancements came around at a time when we didn’t have the research to show that they aren’t effective, and [they] were based on fear,” she told lawmakers. “When you know better, you’re supposed to do better.”