SB 143: Sentencing: persons confined to a state hospital.

Existing law, the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012, passed by the voters as Proposition 36 at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election, amended the Three Strikes Law and provided for lower sentences in specified circumstances, including when the current crime is not a serious or violent crime. The act provided a means by which a person serving an indeterminate term of imprisonment can be resentenced in conformance with the provisions of the act.

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted by Proposition 47, as approved by the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, reduced the penalties for various crimes. Under the provisions of the act, a person currently convicted of a felony or felonies who would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under the act if the act had been in effect at the time of the conviction may petition or apply to have the sentence reduced in accordance with the act. That act requires that this petition or application be filed before November 4, 2017, or at a later date upon a showing of good cause.

This bill would authorize a person who is committed to a state hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity to petition the court to have the maximum term of commitment reduced to what it would have been had Proposition 36 or Proposition 47 been in effect at the time of the original determination. The bill would require the petitioner to show that he or she would have been eligible to have his or her sentence reduced under the relevant proposition, to show that he or she would not be a danger to himself or herself if released from the state hospital, proposition and to file the petition prior to January 1, 2021, or at a later date with a showing of good cause.