California lawmakers consider new sentencing laws

By Andy Furillo - afurillo@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, May 3, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3

Lawmakers have revived a pair of bills to overhaul California's criminal sentencing laws, but majority Democrats are still wrangling over which approach to push.

Both measures would create a panel appointed by the executive, legislative and judicial branches that would be empowered to stiffen or reduce prison terms on its own, subject to a majority vote by the Legislature.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year proposed an advisory panel that the Democrats viewed as toothless. Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Lisa Page said that the governor is open to negotiating a commission proposal with legislative leaders but that they have shown "little interest" in a deal.

Sentencing commissions are already in operation in about 20 states across the country. They primarily serve to prioritize scarce prison bed space in states that, like California, are struggling with inmate overcrowding.

One of the revived measures passed the Assembly last year but sputtered in the state Senate. The other cleared the Senate but stalled in the Assembly.

Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, believes her Senate Bill 110 should get the nod because it specifically identifies 274 criminal statutes that would be reviewed by the sentencing commission. She said her bill addresses issues of constitutionality.

Romero and eight other Democrats in the Senate voted against Assembly Bill 160, which was authored by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View. Romero said they believed it "didn't pass constitutional muster."

Lieber supported the Romero bill last year but hasn't given up on her own bill yet. "It may be an option to send two bills to the governor to see if we can get either of them signed," Lieber said.

Assembly Speaker-elect Karen Bass said that reconsideration is going to have to wait until the budget gets fixed.

"I certainly think we need to have sentencing reform, but frankly, my focus as soon as I take over is going to be the budget, the budget, the budget," said the Los Angeles Democrat, who takes over as speaker on May 13.

No Republican in either house voted for either sentencing commission bill when they came up last year.

"I'm not interested in abdicating the Legislature's responsibility" to set prison terms, said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, the GOP point man on prisons.

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SALLY LIEBER The assemblywoman suggests her plan and a Senate bill should both pass, giving the governor a choice of which to sign. He has supported the idea of a commission.

Click on photo to enlarge

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