Volume 43, Number 9 04/20/17 THE MISSION THE CORE VALUES of the LDAA is as follows: of LDAA members include: We believe that the Louisiana Constitution To improve Louisiana's justice system and the requires, and Louisiana citizens favor, locally- office of District Attorney by enhancing the elected, independent prosecutors. we believe that effectiveness and professionalism of Louisiana's prosecutor discretion must be protected from district attorneys and their staffs through interference through manipulative funding or education, legislative involvement, liaison and legislative restrictions. Finally, we believe that information sharing. prosecutors are the best and most trustworthy resource for legislative improvements to the criminal justice system. District Attorneys Support Justice Reinvestment The LDAA Board voted Wednesday to support a version of all ten (10) Justice Reinvestment bills filed in the 2017 Regular Session. Six (6) of the ten (10) bills need minor amendments, and we are working with the Governor's office and Legislative leaders to craft substantive amendments to four (4) of these bills. Our amendments are designed to focus these reforms on non-violent, non-dangerous offenders. With these amendments, the package will trigger substantial savings and assure our support of the package. Here is a summary of what we can support: Support With Substantive Amendments: (4 of the 10 bills): SB 220 - Would implement a felony class system to eliminate inconsistencies in sentencing. The Felony Class System cannot be responsibly adopted in this short session. The JRTF began drafting this legislation only weeks ago. No other state has attempted to adopt this type of legislation with this little study and consideration. This bill has 72 pages of complex changes to nearly 600 statutes. The draft should be referred to the Law Institute for study and adoption in the 2018 Regular Session. Meanwhile, we would support a substitute bill that amends the penalties and benefit restrictions on a long list of felony statutes to be negotiated. Our initial recommendations include all of the non-violent offenses that are identified as drivers of incarceration except DWI. This can be done this year. SB 139 - Would provide opportunities for parole consideration to some of Louisiana’s longest-serving inmates; make massive probation/ parole supervision changes; would allow parole without a hearing; would expand medical furloughs. This is a multiple-object bill consisting of 54 pages and more than 52 different changes to the criminal law and procedure. Similar to SB 220, this bill is extremely complex and far reaching. We will support the bill with amendments to limit the provisions of the bill to non-violent offenders only. If accepted, these amendments would still trigger savings and assure our support for the JRTF package. SB 221 - Would limit habitual offender penalties to certain crimes. The Habitual Offender statute is a critical tool for DAs to deal with dangerous and career offenders.The substance of the statute must remain intact. We will support the bill with amendments that substantially reduce the sentencing enhancements for 2nd and 3rd felony offenders. With these amendments, the bill will still trigger substantial savings and assure our support of the JRTF package. SB 16 - Provide opportunities for parole consideration to certain juveniles sentenced to life without parole. As written, the bill grants parole consideration to murderers adjudicated to be among "the worst of the worst" after a special hearing on that issue. It also grants parole consideration to future juvenile 2nd degree murderers after serving 30 years. We will offer amendments to correct these flaws. Our support for this bill is contingent on the amendments adopted by the Senate. Support With Minor Amendments: HB 116 - Would improve and streamline the victim notification process. We support the bill with technical amendments. HB 426- Would direct judges to consider incarcerated status when fixing child support. We support the bill. HB 177 - Would eliminate restrictions from receiving food stamp benefits for drug offenders in 1st year of release. We support the bill. HB 519 - Would expand opportunities for those reentering the community to earn full occupational licenses. We suport the bill. HB 489 - Would collect data to monitor the outcomes of reforms / reinvest over $154 million dollars into research-based programs that reduce recidivism and support victims. We support the bill, however, support a larger percentage of savings to be reinvested. HB 249 - Would tailor criminal justice financial obligations to a person’s ability to pay, and modify penalties for failure to pay. We support the concept. This legislation may not be necessary. We will offer amendments to assure that the presumption of financial hardship does not become a loophole for many who can afford to pay. Summary - The District Attorneys are primarily concerned with public safety. According to DOC statistics, 42% of released inmates commit new crimes within five (5) years. Without our amendments, some of these bills will cause a drastic reduction of sentences and early release of violent and dangerous offenders which will certainly generate thousands of new victims of violent crime. With our amendments, we can support all of these bills. We are tracking more than 188 bills of significant importance to District Attorneys and several dozen other pre-filed bills of interest. Two significant issues for District Attorneys are: Regulate and share funds from Pre-Trial Diversion Programs: HB 0336 Denise Marcelle / Creates a Diversion Oversight Committee to examine district attorney-operated diversion programs statewide (4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.) Abolish the Death Penalty: HB 101 Terry Landry / Eliminates the death penalty for offenses committed on or after August 1, 2017. (4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.) SB 0142 Dan Claitor / Eliminates the death penalty (8/1/17). (4/10/2017 - Senate - Introduced in the Senate; read by title. Rules suspended. Read second time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary C.) Committee Hearings - will begin next week. Please sign up to volunteer for legislative duty on the following dates: Tuesday-Thursday (April 25-27) Tuesday-Thursday (May 2-4) Tuesday-Thursday (May 9-11) Tuesday-Thursday (May 16-18) Tuesday-Thursday (May 23-25) Tuesday-Thursday (May 30-June 1) Tuesday-Thursday (June 6-8) To prepare for legislative duty, keep abreast of the Legislative Reports and the Legislative Chat Page. On the morning of your duty day, meet at the LDAA Headquarters at 8:00 a.m. for briefing. The major bills of interest are: A. CRIMES / DEFINITIONS The following bills create new crimes or amend current criminal definitions. HB 0053 Rodney Lyons Amends provisions of law regarding the claim of self defense in the use of force or violence and justifiable homicide 3/17/2017 - House - First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 3/17/2017. Current Status: Withdrawn from the files of the House - prior to introduction HB 0067 Barbara Norton Creates the crime of unlawfully supplying a child with an Uzi submachine gun (OR SEE FISC NOTE LF RV) 4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. Current Status: Pending House Administration of Criminal Justice HB 0068 Barry Ivey Exempts certain Louisiana residents from the crime of illegal carrying of weapons when the firearm is legally obtained, manufactured, and possessed 4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. Current Status: Pending House Administration of Criminal Justice HB 0105 Tanner Magee Provides relative to the crime of improper supervision of a minor with respect to off- road vehicles and golf carts (OR SEE FISC NOTE LF RV) 4/19/2017 - House - Reported favorably (8-6-1). Current Status: Pending House floor action HB 0223 Helena Moreno Expands the application of domestic abuse battery, domestic abuse aggravated assault, and other provisions of law regarding domestic abuse to dating partners 4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. Current Status: Pending House Administration of Criminal Justice HB 0304 Stephanie Hilferty Expands definition of "racketeering activity" to include armed robbery and armed robbery or attempted armed robbery committed with a firearm (OR SEE FISC NOTE GF EX) 4/19/2017 - House - Reported favorably (14-0-1). Current Status: Pending House floor action HB 0409 Katrina Jackson Provides relative to the applicability of the hate crimes provision 4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. Current Status: Pending House Administration of Criminal Justice HB 0424 Rodney Lyons Amends provisions of law regarding the claim of self defense in the use of force or violence and justifiable homicide 4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. Current Status: Pending House Administration of Criminal Justice SB 0054 Beth Mizell Provides for the unlawful exploitation of children. (8/1/17) 4/10/2017 - Senate - Introduced in the Senate; read by title. Rules suspended. Read second time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary A. Current Status: Pending Senate Judiciary A SB 0055 Fred Mills Provides relative to prescribers of controlled dangerous substances. (See Act) (OR +$78,781 SG EX See Note) 4/19/2017 - Senate - Reported with amendments. Current Status: Pending Senate final passage - Considered 4/20/17 B. PENALTIES / SENTENCING The bills listed below change criminal penalties or sentencing options for certain crimes. HB 0045 Sherman Mack Provides relative to sentencing and parole of certain juvenile offenders sentenced to life imprisonment and terms of imprisonment of more than thirty years 4/10/2017 - House - Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.