Criminal Justice Reform Bills Pass First Hurdle

Senator Nancy Skinner is the author of two criminal justice reform bills responding to a new report from the state’s Committee on the Revision of the Penal Code (CRPC): Annual Report and Recommendations, Committee on Revision of the Penal Code, 2020 (CRPC Report). The CRPC Report includes ten recommended areas for revising the Penal Code. SB 81 and SB 82 would implement two of them.

SB 81 would create a set of guidelines for courts so that sentence enhancements would no longer be applied to nonviolent offenses unless a judge determines that they are necessary to protect public safety. SB 82 would update a 150-year-old statute that has allowed prosecutors to elevate a petty theft charge into felony robbery.

For the full report, click here.