By Lucy Salcido Carter
Two NCIP-sponsored California state Senate bills, SB 1134 and SB 1389, recently passed unanimously in the California Senate Public Safety Committee. SB 1134 establishes a fairer standard in California for using new evidence to prove innocence. SB 1389 will help prevent false confessions, a leading cause of wrongful convictions, by requiring law enforcement to videotape custodial interrogations of all murder suspects.
NCIP exoneree Maurice Caldwell (right) and Ted Bradford testify at the State Capitol supporting bills to help the wrongly convicted. Photo: Lucy Salcido Carter
Both NCIP-sponsored bills are now being held “in suspense” in the Senate Appropriations Committee while the fiscal consultant for the committee analyzes the anticipated costs of implementation. This is a normal part of the legislative process for bills that exceed a certain estimated cost: the threshold cost is $50,000 on the Senate side and $150,000 on the Assembly side. The committee chair ultimately decides which bills come off suspense and must do so by May 27, 2016.
We anticipate that both bills will come off suspense. Once they do the committee will vote on them. If they pass in the committee, the bills are put to a vote on the Senate floor which will take place in early June. Bills that pass the Senate vote then go to the Assembly to begin the committee process all over again.
We have reason to be hopeful that these common-sense reforms will become law. Our bills have the advantage of being bipartisan, which will help in both legislative houses. We also have a strong coalition of supporting organizations that include the California Innocence Project, Loyola Law School’s Project for the Innocent, the ACLU of California, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the California Public Defenders Association, and the California Police Chiefs Association.
Because both of our bills were introduced in the Senate, any struggles to get the bills passed are more likely to occur on the Assembly side. NCIP has already begun reaching out to the legislative staff of members of the Assembly Public Safety and Appropriations Committees. Stay tuned! When the time is right, we will ask for letters of support addressed to the committee chairs and may also ask supporters to reach out to their local assembly members to request their vote on our bills.
Please watch for more information as the bills progress and for ways you can support their adoption and implementation.
