Would increase fairness and transparency by prohibiting parole commissioners from considering age, race, gender, and education level when deciding whether or not an individual is suitable for release, and collecting data to track trends and biases. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.
Prevents trial court proceedings from being automatically delayed when one party appeals the court’s order to deny compelled arbitration. Passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.
Would allow a person sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole to petition for judicial review and resentencing if they have served at least 25 years of their sentence or were convicted of a crime that happened before 1990. Passed by the Senate; held in the Assembly.
Eliminates the deadline for individuals convicted of low-level, non-violent felonies to apply for a reduction to a misdemeanor that was set in Proposition 47, approved by voters in 2014. Passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.
Would limit traffic stops — for minor violations like car registration issues or broken tail lights — that are often the starting point for violent and fatal police interactions. Passed by the Senate; held in the Assembly.
Would restore the right to personal visits for incarcerated individuals at a minimum of three in-person visiting days a week. Passed by the Assembly; held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Would prohibit peace or law enforcement officers from conducting searches without a warrant even if they have the expressed consent of the property owner. Not passed by the Assembly.
Improves equity and due process by authorizing a judge to recall a sentence at any time if there has been a change in circumstances or law since the original sentencing. Passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by the Governor.
The California Mandela Act would limit the use of solitary confinement in jails, prisons, and private detention centers and protect certain populations from ever being placed in solitary confinement, including youth, the elderly, pregnant people, and people with certain disabilities. Passed by the State Legislature and held by the author in the Assembly to allow … Continued
Would allow individual judges to determine the procedure for a defendant found incompetent to stand trial and speed up their access to mental health diversion programs and hospital care. Passed by Assembly; held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Would allow resentencing for individuals who have been subject to firearm sentence enhancements, which overly target people of color. Passed by the Assembly; held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Would prevent the transfer of incarcerated individuals who qualify for release under certain criminal justice reforms to ICE. Passed by the State Legislature; vetoed by the Governor.
Would eliminate the use of bench warrants — which courts use to arrest people who cannot afford to pay fines or face barriers to appearing in court — for minor infractions, which overly targets low-income individuals. Passed by the Assembly; held in the Senate Appropriations committee.
Would prohibit the use of face surveillance on body cameras worn by law enforcement officers for three years. Passed by Assembly; held in the Senate.
Would eliminate the mandate that healthcare workers must report suspected domestic violence and abuse to law enforcement and creates new guidelines for directing survivors to social service agencies for support. Passed by the Assembly; held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Provides that 90% of bail premiums must be returned to defendants if charges are dismissed or not filed, and ensures that defendants out on bail will not be charged for costs related to the conditions of their release like electronic monitoring devices
Expands the type of conditions that would qualify an incarcerated person for compassionate release and mandates that any inmate who is medically incapacitated be reviewed for release without individual recommendation from the Department of Corrections
Mandates that all prisons or similar facilities create and follow written standards for segregated confinement, including protections for disabled individuals, people under the age of 26, and people over the age of 59
Requires that courts consider alternatives to incarceration in criminal sentencing, including collaborative justice, restorative justice, and diversion programs
Installs stronger criminal justice protections by allowing jury instructions to direct jurors to consider a lesser charge if the defense and evidence align to the conviction of a lesser offense
An act to amend Section 7286 of the Government Code, relating to peace officers.
Expands the Racial Justice Act to allow individuals convicted before January 1, 2021, to petition the court on instances of racial bias in their cases
An act to add Title 1.81.7 (commencing with Section 1798.300) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to privacy.
An act to amend Section 52.1 of the Civil Code, to amend Section 1029 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 832.7, 13503, 13506, 13510, 13510.1, and 13512 of, to amend the heading of Article 2 (commencing with Section 13510) of Chapter 1 of Title 4 of Part 4 of, and to add Sections … Continued
An act to add and repeal Section 1385.2 of the Penal Code, relating to criminal procedure.
An act to amend Sections 2101, 2105.6, 2105.7, 2106, 2150, 2201, 2212, 2300, and 14240 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.
An act to add, repeal, and add Section 231.7 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to juries.
An act to amend Sections 1473 and 1473.7 of, and to add Section 745 to, the Penal Code, relating to criminal procedure.
An act to add Article 1.4 (commencing with Section 3007.5) to Chapter 8 of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, relating to parole.
An act to add Section 1203.4b to the Penal Code, relating to convictions.
Lead Author: Skinner Summary: A person who has been incarcerated and released has served their debt to society, and should be granted equal rights to any citizen. Banning formerly incarcerated people from serving on juries disenfranchises them, while also disproportionately removes people of color — who are disproportionately incarcerated due to our flawed justice system … Continued
Lead Author: Wiener Summary: California law mandates that offenders who engage in consensual, yet illegal, sex with 14-17 year old be treated differently, based on whether the sex is penile-vaginal, or anal and oral intercourse. This distinction creates more significant penalties for LGBT offenders, despite having committed the same offense — resulting in disproportionate numbers … Continued
Lead Author: Wiener Summary: Incarcerating individuals costs California citizens $80,000 per individual year. Current law includes mandatory sentencing enhancements that add 1 year of incarceration for each past offense committed by the accused — a mandatory add-on that impacts a third of the incarcerated population. Significant research suggests these enhancements do not deter crime. SB … Continued
Lead Author: Mark Stone Summary: Under current code, people are entitled to a hearing for early parole if they were less than 26 years old at the time of the controlling offense. However, the Department of Corrections holds a confusing, problematic definition of ‘initial hearing’ when measuring the time served of those incarcerated as youth. … Continued
Lead Author: Gipson Summary: Current California law allows juvenile court judges to criminalize youth for truancy and other non-criminal offenses. This practice increases the chances that youth end up in a juvenile court and, therefore, the juvenile justice system. AB901 firmly decriminalizes truancy and forces counties to seek non-criminal alternatives, including referring juveniles to community … Continued
Lead Authors: Mark Stone, Jones-Sawyer Summary: Incarcerated people enter prison with disproportionately high rates of poverty, then often forced to work manual labor for almost nothing. Charging inmates administrative fees (or co-pays) for medical visits is unnecessary and unfair. The barrier it creates to inmates receiving basic care exacerbates minor conditions and leads to the … Continued
Lead Author: Kalra Summary: A defendant facing trial should have every opportunity to know if an officer involved in their case has any instances of documented police misconduct. AB1600 helps to expedite this process by shortening the notice requirement from 16 days to 10 days after the defendant has filed a motion to obtain these … Continued
Lead Author: Ting Summary: Facial recognition technology is a nascent technology, both invasive and prone to systematic errors when used on women and people of color. As privacy concerns grow around personal privacy and our increasing surveillance state, AB1215 prohibits police departments across the state from using this harmful technology until 2023. This bill passed … Continued
Lead Author: McCarty Summary: A 1994 court ruling established the right of counties to oversee Sheriff Departments. Across California, however, many overzealous Sheriffs continue to resist this essential check on their power — including a Sacramento Sheriff who blocked an Inspector General from coming to work after a reckless shooting performed by his office. AB1185 … Continued
Author: Reyes Securing employment is a crucial step in keeping people from going back to prison. However, about 30 percent of all jobs require professional licenses, which are usually granted by state boards. AB 2293 was part of a bill package that would have prohibited these boards from using arrest or conviction records as … Continued
Authors: Skinner, Anderson Co-authors: Gipson, Bonta, Burke, Medina, Wiener Current California law states that someone can be held criminally liable for murder if it occurs during a felony they committed, even if they were not present for the actual death. This results in hundreds of people being jailed for murders they didn’t commit. SB … Continued
Authors: Mitchell, Lara Co-authors: Kalra, Beall, Bradford, Carrillo, Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, Skinner, Weber California’s severe sentence enhancements for prior convictions keeps inmates imprisoned for much longer than they should have to serve time. SB 1393 would restore the court’s discretion to slash the five-year sentence enhancements for prior serious felony convictions.
Author: Bonta Co-authors: Skinner, Wiener, Fletcher, Quirk Although the passage of Proposition 64 legalized recreational cannabis use and allowed for the “resentencing and destruction of records for prior convictions,” it did not specify a process for the retroactive erasure of non-violent cannabis convictions. AB 1793 mandates the California Department of Justice to search its … Continued
Author: Weber, McCarty Co-authors: Bradford, Mitchell, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Mark Stone Under current law, law enforcement may use deadly force anytime they perceive a serious threat, whether there were other non-lethal alternatives to addressing the situation or not. AB 931 would prohibit law enforcement officers from using deadly force if there are reasonable alternatives available … Continued
Author: Hill The increased policing and surveillance of California communities has previously gone without public input and accountability. SB 1186 requires public debate and a vote by local elected leaders prior to law enforcement’s acquisition of new surveillance technology. The bill also requires written rules for existing surveillance technology in order to curtail the … Continued
Authors: Gloria, Chiu Co-author: Hill The increased militarization of local law enforcement has made of our neighborhoods feel like warzones. AB 3131 would restore transparency and accountability by making sure that law enforcement agencies provide notice to the public before they decide to acquire military equipment.
Author: Skinner Co-authors: Lara, Bradford, Glazer, Hill, Jones-Sawyer, McCarty, Mitchell, Moorlach, M. Stone, Weber, Wieckowski Police departments across the state have traditionally acted with little accountability and transparency, especially in cases of sexual assault, planting evidence and lying, and racist uses of lethal force. SB 1421 provides the public access to records regarding police … Continued
Authors: Mitchell, Lara Co-authors: Kalra, Beall, Bradford, Skinner, Carrillo, Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, Weber California has some of the most severe sentence enhancements for prior convictions in the entire country. SB 1392 would repeal California’s one-year sentencing enhancement for each prior prison or felony jail term.
Author: Ting Co-authors: Carrillo, Jones-Sawyer AB 748 would mandate that, if requested, law enforcement agencies publicly provide audio and visual recordings of incidents in which lethal force was used. With so many jurisdictions and departments all over California, transparency and accountability would increase dramatically if body camera footage were made more available to the … Continued
author: Low co-authors: Gipson, Bigelow, Cooper, Lackey, Santiago, Wilk AB 1428 was advertised by law enforcement as an attempt to increase transparency in police misconduct cases, but racial justice groups opposed it because it would undermine true reform and may have actually limited access to certain information. One of the biggest problems in the … Continued
authors: McCarty, Gipson, Holden, Reyes, Weber co-author: Bradford In 2013, California passed a ‘Ban the Box’ law, forbidding most employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history as part of the initial job application process. AB 1008 strengthens the provisions of ‘Ban the Box’, forbidding all state and local agencies from inquiring about … Continued
authors: Mitchell, Lara co-authors: Bradford, Skinner, Wieckowski, Wiener One of the many legacies of the War on Drugs was that a person convicted of drug possession (or a similar offense) is sentenced to an additional three years for each prior conviction, leading to exorbitantly long jail sentences. The prosecution of these cases disproportionately impacts … Continued
author: Weber co-author: Mendoza CalGang is a database that holds information on over 150,000 individuals — mostly Latinos and blacks — who may or may not be connected to a gang in California. This system had many flaws, including not requiring law enforcement to notify those who had been added to the database. Transparency … Continued
authors: Bonta, Bloom, Chiu, Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, M. Stone co-authors: Allen, Hertzberg, Mitchell, Wiener, Eggman, Friedman, Gloria California’s mandatory bail system is broken. By setting exorbitantly high dollar amounts which, if paid, allow someone accused of a crime to temporarily return to their life, the current bail system unfairly creates two standards of justice — … Continued
author: Jones-Sawyer co-authors: Bonta, Chiu, Eggman, C. Garcia, Skinner, Wiener, Wood Despite California’s legalization of cannabis, the Trump Administration recently threatened to use federal enforcement to continue treating medical cannabis or marijuana use as illegal. Californians have spoken on this issue, and AB 1578 would ensure that, absent a court order, local and state … Continued
author: Skinner co-author: Anderson The average California prison is currently 30% over capacity, leading to inhumane or poor living conditions. The prison population costs taxpayers an average of $70,836 per inmate, and many incarcerated individuals have not been sentenced fairly or equitably. SCR 48 gives judges and jurors more leeway to deliver a sentence … Continued
author: Bradford In California, criminal sentences are often lengthened if the crime was committed with the use of a firearm. Judges often have little discretion due to mandatory sentence enhancements, and can sometimes be forced to levy unfairly long sentences on people who were not the ones carrying or using a firearm. SB 620 will … Continued
Authors: Mitchell, Lara Co-author: Kamlager-Dove Currently, California lacks any law to prevent young children from being prosecuted as adults, leaving young children within the criminal justice system particularly vulnerable to prosecution and unfair convictions. SB 439 establishes 12 years as the minimum age for prosecution in juvenile court unless a minor younger than 12 … Continued
author: Lara, Mitchell co-author: Skinner Developmental science concludes that cognitive brain development continues into adulthood, leaving minors with less capacity to understand their rights. Because of this, youth are significantly more vulnerable to giving false statements to authorities. SB 395 will safeguard young people’s rights by mandating that individuals 15 years or younger be … Continued
author: Lara, Mitchell co-authors: Bradford, Skinner, Wiener Nearly 300 Californians are currently serving mandatory life without parole (LWOP) sentences for crimes committed when they were minors. States all across the country are moving to eliminate LWOP sentences for minors under the belief that creating the opportunity for parole is a more humane, rehabilitation-focused approach … Continued
author: Bradford During recent years, when many unarmed citizens have been seriously injured or killed by police, public interest in police procedure and training has increased. With so many jurisdictions and departments all over California, transparency and accountability would increase dramatically if their policies and procedures were visible to the public. SB 345 would mandate … Continued
author: Eggman In 2016, 13% of elder care facilities in California were reported for exploitation, abuse, and neglect — twice as high as the national average of 5%. Hundreds of thousands of California’s elderly residents live in these care facilities. Previously, the burden of clear and convincing proof lied on the abused in these cases. … Continued
author: Stone Current law in California requires the consideration of release for certain offenders whose crimes were committed when they were 23 or younger. AB 1308 will extend that mandate to offenders whose crimes were committed at age 25 or younger, giving more people who made mistakes in early adulthood the chance to rehabilitate themselves … Continued
(Mitchell) Public Safety: 4-3-0 (Mitchell) Floor: 42-29-9 co-authors: C. Garcia, Lackey, Wieckowski Victims of sex trafficking are often treated as criminals by law enforcement. SB1322 helps to protect them by decriminalizing prostitution for minors. Under SB1322, law enforcement officials are permitted to take the children into temporary custody, but only if necessary for … Continued
(Monning) Floor: 24-14-1 According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were over 1,000 reported cases of sex trafficking in California last year. Prior to the passing of SB 1129, prostituted minors were charged with minimum sentences despite the fact that many of them were victims of sex trafficking. SB 1129 showcases California’s recent focus … Continued
(Monning) Floor: 41-29-10 According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were over 1,000 reported cases of sex trafficking in California last year. Prior to the passing of SB 1129, prostituted minors were charged with minimum sentences despite the fact that many of them were victims of sex trafficking. SB 1129 showcases California’s recent focus … Continued
(Mitchell) Floor: 22-14-4 (Mitchell) Public Safety: 3-2-2 co-authors: Leno, Wieckowski When drug offenders are convicted of an offense, they currently are up against laws that require an additional three year sentence for every prior drug conviction. This law was created to lessen drug use and sales, despite no evidence that it would actually … Continued
(Mitchell) Floor: 18-16-6 co-authors: Leno, Wieckowski When drug offenders are convicted of an offense, they currently are up against laws that require an additional three year sentence for every prior drug conviction. This law was created to lessen drug use and sales, despite no evidence that it would actually accomplish that goal. Instead, … Continued
Appropriations: 12-6-2 Floor: 41-31-8 authors: Anderson, Hancock co-authors: Jones-Sawyer, Leno, Liu, Mitchell, Quirk California has one of the harshest solitary confinement laws in the country, leading prisoners in Security Housing Units (SHUs) to be confined for an average of six years in a 2-by-10 foot cell. SB759 allows prisoners in SHUs to earn credits … Continued
(Bonta) Floor: 46-29-5 co-authors: Alejo, Leno, Lopez Almost 250,000 immigrants were deported last year, tearing apart families across the nation. The TRUTH Act (AB2792) helps keep families together by giving immigrants in jail clear rights to protect them from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and possible deportation. While in custody, they are … Continued
(Bonta) Floor: 44-29-7 co-authors: Alejo, Leno, Lopez Almost 250,000 immigrants were deported last year, tearing apart families across the nation. The TRUTH Act (AB2792) helps keep families together by giving immigrants in jail clear rights to protect them from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and possible deportation. While in custody, they are … Continued
(Thurmond) Floor: 38-36-6 co-authors: Bonta, M. Stone, Weber Arbitration is the practice of resolving legal disputes outside the courts, often by placing judgments in the hands of employment attorneys or retired judges. Currently, businesses can require consumers to sign agreements wherein, when consumers purchase products like cell phones, vehicles or bank accounts, they … Continued
(Weber) Floor: 23-13-3 co-authors: Mitchell, Gonzalez Allowing low-level, nonviolent felons to vote reduces the number of people that return to jail, because it provides these people with a meaningful role in society as they begin the reintegration process. Under the California Constitution, those who are currently in prison or on parole for a … Continued
(Weber) Floor: 41-37-2 co-authors: Mitchell, Gonzalez Allowing low-level, nonviolent felons to vote reduces the number of people that return to jail, because it provides these people with a meaningful role in society as they begin the reintegration process. Under the California Constitution, those who are currently in prison or on parole for a … Continued
(Weber) Floor: 42-29-9 co-authors: Leno, Mitchell No proof was necessary to include people in CalGang — a database that holds information on individuals who may or may not be connected to a gang in California. Over 150,000 people — mostly Latinos and blacks — are currently listed in CalGang. Many of them are … Continued
(Weber) Floor: 42-34-4 co-authors: Leno, Mitchell No proof was necessary to include people in CalGang — a database that holds information on individuals who may or may not be connected to a gang in California. Over 150,000 people — mostly Latinos and blacks — are currently listed in CalGang. Many of them are … Continued