Week of October 3, 2016
By Shaun Rundle, Legislative & Region Affairs Representative
Governor Jerry Brown had until midnight on Friday, September 30th to sign the hundreds of bills that the Legislature sent him. For law enforcement in California, the results have been both positive and negative. Many pieces of legislation that CPOA lobbied, which would improve public safety were signed, but the Governor also signed into law several measures that law enforcement opposed. Now the attention turns to November’s election and how voters will view the public safety measures on the ballot.
The good news begins with finally addressing the unintended consequences of Prop 47. SB 1182 by Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) was announced to become law. This would enable felony charges to be brought for a person who possesses date-rape drugs with the intent to commit sexual assault.
Another CPOA-lobbied and supported bill from Senator Galgiani was SB 6, which now disqualifies convicted murderers of current and former peace officers from compassionate release parole eligibility.
Lastly, another last-minute win for public safety was SB 1046 by Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo). This bill requires a DUI offender to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on his or her vehicle for a specified period of time in order to get a restricted license or to reinstate his or her license and to remove the required suspension time before a person can get a restricted license.
Governor Brown did also sign bills that CPOA opposed for their potential harm to public safety. Two bills from Assembly member Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) were among them. AB 2765 extends the eligibility for persons who had felony convictions before Prop 47 passed in 2014 to apply for resentencing from 2017 to 2022. Weber’s other bill, AB 2466 grants voting eligibility to felons serving their sentences in county jail, which a large number are as a result of realignment/AB 109.