Sample Letter of Support for SB 1199

WHEN FINISHED, ERASE ALL RED Please fax to both Sen. Hancock and Human Rights Watch. The Senator’s fax number is below, and Human Rights Watch’s fax is (310) 477-4622. If you want to just send it to Human Rights Watch, let us know and we will make sure a copy is sent to the Senator.

[Date] [Your name and address]

The Honorable Loni Hancock California State Senator Chair, Senate Public Safety Committee State Capitol, Room 2082 Sacramento, CA 905814 Via facsimile: (916) 327-1997

RE: Support for SB 260

Dear Senator Hancock:

I support Senate Bill 260. [ Say something about yourself, such as : “My wife and I run our own business in the San Fernando Valley.”Or: “I am a mother of four, and grandmother of three.” Or: “I am an attorney practicing in San Mateo, where I am active in the Democratic Party.” Or: “I am the manager of a plant nursery and a deacon in my church.” Or: “I am a victim of violent crime and active in my community.” Then say something about why you support this bill, such as: “I want our laws to be just.” Or: “I think youth should get a second chance, and not spend the same amount of time in prison as adults.” Or: “I believe young people should be treated differently than adults in the criminal system.” Or: “I believe California should uphold human rights in its laws.”]

[Then, please pick one or two of the paragraphs below. Each paragraph can be used alone. Your letter should be short! And, the more your letter is in your own words the more powerful it will be with legislators, so if you have time, please add why you support the bill in your own words. Otherwise just use some of what is here.]

I believe young people who commit crimes should be held accountable. However, when California condemns a young person to an adult prison sentence, it disregards the human capacity for rehabilitation and ignores the very real physical and psychological differences between children and adults. Senate Bill 260 would ensure that youth offenders are held accountable for their crimes, but they would have the opportunity to work toward a lower sentence if they can show they have rehabilitated.

Law, science, and commonsense all agree: teenagers are different from adults. Under state and federal law, people under the age of 18 cannot use alcohol or cigarettes, sign a lease, join the military, or vote. Our laws recognize that they are not mature enough for these responsibilities. Yet, in California, youth are sentenced to adult prison sentences without careful, individualized analysis of whether they could turn Letter in Support of SB 260 Page 2 their lives around. Senate Bill 260 provides for review of youth offender cases after the person has served a substantial amount of time in prison. Senate Bill 260 would have judges carefully consider the adult a young person has become, and whether a reduced sentence is merited.

I believe California should treat its youth fairly. Our laws should reflect the fact that young people have tremendous potential to mature and change. Senate Bill 260 recognizes that youth are different from adults; it holds young people responsible for criminal behavior, but gives them the chance to turn their lives around. It is a bill that is smart on crime and fiscally wise for our state.

Over the years, changes in California law have diminished many safeguards and points for review that once existed for youth charged with crimes. Longstanding procedures requiring a formal hearing before a judge and assessment of the young person before being sent to the adult criminal system have been undermined by rules for automatic or direct filing. Laws now mandate the automatic transfer to adult court youth as young at 14 years old in some cases. As a result, many youth now are tried as adults and face adult penalties without consideration of their amenability to rehabilitation. These changes mean that California has limited its ability to impose sentences that make sense for a young person.

By focusing our resources on the cases that are an ongoing threat to public safety, passage of SB 260 would save California’s limited funds. This state has only recently come out of a fiscal crisis, and we should spend our resources where they are most needed. It costs nearly $45,000 per year to incarcerate each inmate in a California Prison. Senate Bill 260 would require careful examination of the cases of offenders under the age of 18, and those who deserve a new sentence would get one. If a youth offender is sentenced to an adult sentence of 25 years, but goes through tremendous growth and positive change during the first ten years of incarceration, it does not make sense to continue to pay for that individual’s incarceration year in and year out.

Our laws should reflect scientific findings. Neurological research concludes that the adolescent brain is not fully formed until early adulthood, and that young people do not have adult levels of judgment, impulse control, or ability to assess risks. Through the early twenties, young people are continuing to develop into the adults they will become. The vast majority of youth outgrows the type of behavior that leads to crime and choose different paths in life. No one, not even a judge or a psychologist, can accurately predict who a 14, 15, 16, or 17 year old will be as an adult. Senate Bill 260 allows a judge to judge a youth offender once he or she has grown up.

Senate Bill 260 requires accountability in a way our current laws do not: It holds young people accountable while requiring they work on rehabilitation and deepen their remorse. Over 6,500 people in California prisons were under the age of 18 at the time of their crime. Some were as young as 14 years old. More than half have life sentences. If passed, SB 260 would give these young people the motivation to work on changing the direction of their lives. Youth sentenced to adult prison terms would have the opportunity to work for a second chance.

For these reasons, I support SB 260.

Sincerely,

cc: Human Rights Watch fax: 310.477.4622