Legislature(2015 - 2016)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
03/09/2016 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB182 | |
| SB91 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 182 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
March 9, 2016
1:41 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Lesil McGuire, Chair
Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair
Senator Mia Costello
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE BILL NO. 182
"An Act relating to genetic genealogy, DNA testing, DNA
analysis, DNA privacy, and DNA property rights."
- HEARD & HELD
SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 91
"An Act relating to criminal law and procedure; relating to
controlled substances; relating to probation; relating to
sentencing; establishing a pretrial services program with
pretrial services officers in the Department of Corrections;
relating to permanent fund dividends; relating to electronic
monitoring; relating to penalties for violations of municipal
ordinances; relating to parole; relating to correctional
restitution centers; relating to community work service;
relating to revocation, termination, suspension, cancellation,
or restoration of a driver's license; relating to the
disqualification of persons convicted of certain felony drug
offenses from participation in the food stamp and temporary
assistance programs; relating to the duties of the commissioner
of corrections; amending Rules 6, 32, 32.1, 38, 41, and 43,
Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure, and repealing Rules 41(d)
and (e), Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure; and providing for
an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 182
SHORT TITLE: DNA TESTING EXEMPTION FOR GENEALOGY
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) MCGUIRE
02/17/16 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/17/16 (S) JUD
03/09/16 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
BILL: SB 91
SHORT TITLE: OMNIBUS CRIM LAW & PROCEDURE; CORRECTIONS
SPONSOR(s): SENATOR(s) COGHILL
03/25/15 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
03/25/15 (S) STA, JUD, FIN
04/02/15 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
04/02/15 (S) Heard & Held
04/02/15 (S) MINUTE(STA)
02/03/16 (S) SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE INTRODUCED-REFERRALS
02/03/16 (S) STA, JUD, FIN
02/13/16 (S) STA AT 10:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
02/13/16 (S) Heard & Held
02/13/16 (S) MINUTE(STA)
02/18/16 (S) STA AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
02/18/16 (S) Heard & Held
02/18/16 (S) MINUTE(STA)
02/25/16 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
02/25/16 (S) Heard & Held
02/25/16 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/01/16 (S) STA AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/01/16 (S) Heard & Held
03/01/16 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/03/16 (S) STA AT 8:30 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/03/16 (S) Heard & Held
03/03/16 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/08/16 (S) STA AT 9:00 AM BUTROVICH 205
03/08/16 (S) Moved CSSSSB 91(STA) Out of Committee
03/08/16 (S) MINUTE(STA)
03/08/16 (S) STA AT 5:00 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/08/16 (S) -- MEETING CANCELED --
03/09/16 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
WITNESS REGISTER
FORREST WOLFE, Staff
Senator Lesil McGuire
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced SB 182 on behalf of the sponsor.
BENNETT GREENSPAN, President and founder
Family Tree DNA
Houston, Texas
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 182.
JORDAN SHILLING, Staff
Senator John Coghill
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions related to SB 91.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:41:35 PM
CHAIR LESIL MCGUIRE called the Senate Judiciary Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:41 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Coghill, Costello, Wielechowski, and Chair
McGuire. Senator Micciche arrived during the course of the
meeting.
SB 182-DNA TESTING EXEMPTION FOR GENEALOGY
1:42:16 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 182.
1:42:34 PM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to adopt the committee substitute (CS) for
SB 182, labeled 29-LS1289\E, as the working document.
CHAIR MCGUIRE found no objection and version E was before the
committee.
1:43:02 PM
FORREST WOLFE, Staff, Senator Lesil McGuire, Alaska State
Legislature, introduced SB 182 on behalf of the sponsor
reading the following prepared testimony:
SB 182 has a very limited scope: to amend Alaska's
statutes to provide solid legal ground for an emerging
and increasingly popular new field known as genetic
genealogy.
When the Alaska Genetic Privacy Act was passed,
genetic genealogy was still in its infancy and nowhere
near as popular as it is today, thus this field was
not considered when crafting and enacting this
legislation.
Because of this, a problematic legal gray area has
arisen in this state that prevents genetic genealogy
companies from feeling comfortable conducting business
in Alaska. SB 182 rectifies this issue.
Genetic Genealogy must be participated in voluntarily,
and has many benefits for people seeking to trace
their ancestral lineage.
Online to provide more information on genetic
genealogy and answer any questions we have Bennett
Greenspan, President of Family Tree DNA.
We ask your support on this bill that makes Alaska a
better place to do business for a rapidly growing
industry and research field, and again, thank you for
hearing SB 182.
SENATOR COGHILL pointed out that the bill is in the exemption
section of the statute. Thus, it starts in the negative.
CHAIR MCGUIRE summarized that this bill carves out an exception
in AS 18.13.040 saying it does not apply to collection of a DNA
sample. She asked Mr. Greenspan to explain why Alaska law needs
this clarification.
BENNETT GREENSPAN, President and founder, Family Tree DNA,
Houston, Texas, testified in support of SB 182. He explained
that his company started out assisting families that were
looking for lost family members. Over the years, it morphed to a
company that also tests people to determine their genealogical
roots. They also do work in the adoption community as well as
trying to help children who want to reconnect with biological
family. He highlighted that in 2005 the National Geographic
Society selected his company to do their DNA testing, which
looks exclusively at human migration patterns around the world.
He described this as the soft side of genetics, essentially
helping people look into the history book that is written into
their cells, and nothing else.
He said SB 182 is necessary because the way the genetic privacy
statute is written, the DNA testing his company does could be
categorized with doctor-directed and medically ordered tests.
The cheek swab he uses could be considered a medical device and
regulated as such, even though Family Tree DNA does not perform
medical tests.
When the FDA addressed the subject of direct to consumer tests
in 2008 and 2009, it was trying to make sure that people don't
buy medical tests and get information on those tests online
rather than going to their medical doctor for an explanation. On
both occasions, the FDA said it wasn't interested in what Family
Tree DNA was doing. SB 182 would clarify the statute and provide
an exemption for genetic genealogy testing.
1:50:40 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE noted that for many years the legislature declined
to allow DNA samples to be collected. During the Murkowski
administration, a bill passed allowing collection, but not
retention, of Buccal Swabs. There also was a specific
prohibition on medical use, with a few specific exceptions.
Civil and criminal penalties are attached for misuse of the DNA
results.
Family Tree DNA and other similar companies asked her to
introduce a clarifying measure and it seemed reasonable and
necessary. Alaskans and others are increasingly interested in
finding out more about their genetic genealogy.
1:53:03 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI read AS 18.13.010(a)(1) and questioned
whether this couldn't already be done with a disclosure
agreement.
MR. GREENSPAN said his concern is potentially being swept into
some action or case that he's not part of. He related that when
the bill passed in 2005, he estimates there were not more than
100,000 people worldwide that had done a DNA test for
genealogical and anthropological purposes. Today that number is
approaching 3 million, and counsel has pointed out the lack of
clarity in the statutes is a potential problem.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if the bill would exempt Family Tree
DNA and similar companies from a cause of action if there were a
security breach.
MR. GREENSPAN discussed the measures his company employs to
ensure their system is secure and reiterated that they do not
look at medical issues. His interest is ensuring that people can
find out about their DNA and that he can operate in all 50
states knowing that what is permissible in one is permissible in
the others.
2:02:54 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI voiced interest in protecting Alaskans and
ensuring that there won't be an exemption if an organization is
reckless or negligent. He suggested that Legislative Legal
Services may be able to answer the questions.
MR. GREENSPAN stressed his interest in safety and privacy.
2:04:19 PM
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if a family that adopts a child from
China can request DNA testing.
MR. GREENSPAN answered in the affirmative describing efforts of
Vietnamese American and Korean American adults to locate lost
family. He noted that Alaska is uniquely progressive because it
has open birth records.
SENATOR COSTELLO asked if he and his competitors foresee federal
legislation relating to DNA testing for genealogical and
anthropological purposes.
MR. GREENSPAN related that just three companies in the U.S.
offer this type of DNA testing and Family Tree DNA is the only
company that offers the mitochondrial test. His two competitors
offer recombinant DNA testing, and his company allows those
people to move their records to the Family Tree DNA database for
genealogical purposes. He didn't know that there would ever be
one large database.
2:12:32 PM
SENATOR COGHILL asked if the Department of Justice ever
subpoenaed DNA information from his company.
MR. GREENSPAN said his company probably hasn't gotten those
requests because there is no chain of custody. He relies on what
his customers tell him about whose cheek scraping they're
sending and that may or may not be accurate.
SENATOR COGHILL commented that birth parents who don't want
contact after a closed adoption might be surprised if someone
did a DNA test and then showed up at their door.
MR. GREENSPAN agreed and added that each state regulates
adoptions a little differently.
2:17:10 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE held SB 182 in committee for future consideration.
SB 91-OMNIBUS CRIM LAW & PROCEDURE; CORRECTIONS
2:17:34 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SSSB 91. [This was
the first hearing and CSSSSB 91(STA) was before the committee.]
2:17:38 PM
SENATOR JOHN COGHILL, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 91, introduced the legislation speaking to the
following sponsor statement:
Senate Bill 91 implements proven practices to reduce
recidivism, keep Alaskans safe, hold offenders
accountable, and control corrections spending.
Increased spending on prisons has not brought Alaskans
greater public safety: nearly two out of every three
inmates who leave prison return to prison within three
years. The high rate of recidivism has significantly
increased Department of Corrections operating costs to
$324 million in FY 2016, and spurred the opening of
the Goose Creek Correctional Center, costing the state
$240 million in construction funds.
Alaska Criminal Justice Commission
Seeking a better public safety return on our state's
corrections spending, the legislature established the
Alaska Criminal Justice Commission. The Commission
included legislators, judges, law enforcement
officers, prosecutors, defenders, corrections
officials, and members representing crime victims and
Alaska Natives. The Commission spent over a year
conducting an exhaustive review of the state's
pretrial, sentencing, corrections, and community
supervision data and systems.
SB 91 Incorporates the Commission's Recommendations
The Commission developed a package of consensus
recommendations that will reduce the state's daily
prison population by 21 percent over the next 10
years, saving the state $424 million. SB 91 aims to:
· Implement evidence-based pretrial practices by
expanding the use of citations in lieu of arrest
for lower-level nonviolent offenses; and making
changes to bail practices to focus pretrial
release decisions more on risk than on ability to
pay.
· Focus prison beds on serious and violent
offenders by diverting nonviolent misdemeanor
offenders to alternatives; revising drug crime
penalties; adjusting dollar amounts for felony
property crimes to account for inflation;
realigning sentence ranges in statute, expanding
and streamlining parole; and incentivizing sex
offenders to complete treatment programming.
· Strengthen probation and parole supervision by
standardizing sanctions for violations of
probation and parole conditions to ensure they
are swift, certain, and proportional;
establishing incentives to comply with
supervision conditions; and focusing treatment
resources on high-needs offenders.
· Improve opportunities for successful reentry by
offering limited licenses to eligible revoked
offenders; creating a reentry program within the
Department of Corrections; and opting out of the
federal ban on food stamps for people convicted
of drug crimes.
Reinvest a portion of the savings from these reforms
into evidence-based practices designed to improve
public safety, control corrections populations, and
reduce recidivism, including supervision services,
victims' services, violence prevention, treatment
services, and reentry services.
Cost of Doing Nothing: $169 Million
Alaska's prison population grew 27 percent in the last
decade, nearly three times faster than the resident
population. At this rate, the Department of
Corrections projects the need to house an additional
1,416 inmates by 2024, which will cost the state at
least $169 million in new spending. With the
disappointing recidivism rates and public safety
outcomes the state has been achieving, the cost of
doing nothing is too high.
2:27:29 PM
JORDAN SHILLING, Staff, Senator John Coghill, responding to a
question from the sponsor, reported that 95 percent of offenders
will return to their communities.
2:28:34 PM
SENATOR COGHILL informed the committee that in an effort to turn
the corner on recidivism the Speaker of the House, Governor, and
Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court wrote letters to the
PEW Charitable Trusts ("PEW") requesting technical help looking
at Alaska recidivism statistics compared to other states. He
said they brought statistics that many hadn't seen before and he
believes "we're looking at ourselves in a very new way." He
noted that there was some pushback but it wasn't unexpected.
He reviewed the following key findings:
· The pretrial inmate population has grown 81 percent in the
last decade.
· Half of the pretrial defendants are detained on nonviolent
charges, including misdemeanors.
· The bail system is tied to money, not risk.
· 28 percent of the prison population is pretrial.
· The length of stay for felonies rose 31 percent over the
last decade.
· 75 percent of offenders entering prison were convicted of a
nonviolent crime.
· 20 percent of the population are incarcerated for technical
violations.
2:30:59 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee.
SENATOR COGHILL noted that the Alaska Criminal Justice
Commission annual report to the legislature on page 10 lists the
21 recommendations to decrease corrections costs and protect
public safety.
He directed attention to the color-coded sheet in the packet
that cross references the bill section with the list of
recommended policies for the categories of pretrial, sentencing,
community supervision, and other. He mentioned the pretrial
category and the policy called "citation versus arrest" that is
addressed in Sections 33-35. Additional pretrial policies are
"risk-based release decision making," and "pretrial
supervision." He noted that pretrial supervision will be part of
the reinvestment that will cost money and require different
treatment of prison beds.
SENATOR COGHILL listed the recommended policies in the
sentencing category for "misdemeanors," "controlled substances,"
"felony theft threshold," "presumptive ranges," "discretionary
parole/administrative parole," "geriatric parole," and "sex
offender treatment."
CHAIR MCGUIRE clarified that a series of U.S. Supreme Court
decisions affect what the state legislature has had to do to
comport with those opinions. She mentioned the Blakely vs.
Washington ruling that said presumptive sentences were okay and
mandatory minimum sentences could be held at a higher level. She
asked the sponsor to explain the interplay with Blakely and
whether or not this bill would challenge that ruling.
SENATOR COGHILL, speaking to the presumptive sentencing
provisions in Sections 67-69, said those ranges could probably
be moved to a mid range but aggravators and mitigators would
still have to be argued at sentencing.
CHAIR MCGUIRE added that states that had the circumstances of
aggravators and mitigators had to have a separate trial unless
they were a tenet of the original sentencing.
She asked Mr. Shilling to discuss the proposed policy for
controlled substances in sentencing.
2:42:01 PM
MR. SHILLING explained that the commission recommended two
aspects of sentencing related to drugs. One is related to
commercial drug delivery/dealing and the other is related to
simple drug possession. Existing law does not differentiate
between a high-level and low-level drug dealer so the commission
recommended creating a 2.5 gram weight threshold to
differentiate the two. Dealing above 2.5 grams of certain
substances would be a higher level felony and dealing below the
2.5 gram threshold would be a lower level felony. The goal is to
differentiate between the drug trafficker and someone who
presumably is selling to support their habit.
For simple possession, the commission recommended creating a 2.5
gram weight threshold.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked how the sponsor arrived at the 2.5 gram
threshold. She also asked if he had any comment on the
disproportionate and potentially discriminatory sentencing for
users of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Arguably, people
in a lower economic class would use crack, whereas a white
collar criminal would be more likely to use powder cocaine.
MR. SHILLING said the 2.5 gram threshold is admittedly
arbitrary, but the original recommendation was a 5 gram
threshold. He admitted that there are incongruences when all
drugs are considered together and a weight threshold is
established. He suggested the committee might want to look at
that to try and diminish the incongruities.
SENATOR COGHILL suggested the committee deal with each category
of the bill separately, preferably in the order mentioned
previously.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said she likes the idea of dividing the bill in
the four major areas of "pretrial," "sentencing," "community
supervision," and "other." Public testimony would open once the
committee has a solid understanding of what the bill does in
each of the categories and the controversial areas have been
flagged. She asked future testifiers to point to the specific
provisions they have concerns with and avoid generalizations.
She relayed her intention to spend two weeks on the bill and
send it along to the Finance Committee in perfect legal form.
She noted that she flagged the weight threshold and stated her
preference to consider dosage and usage.
SENATOR COGHILL reviewed his approach to consider the bill and
suggested the committee rely heavily on the Department of Law,
the Public Defender, and the Court System to understand how the
bill will work in practice.
2:49:58 PM
SENATOR COGHILL explained that the community supervision
category includes policy recommendations for graduated
sanctions/incentives, cap in technical violation stays,
probation earned credit, maximum probation terms, good-time on
electronic monitoring, and CRCs - halfway houses.
SENATOR MICCICHE requested a copy of the sponsor's crib notes.
CHAIR MCGUIRE requested the crib notes and a document showing
the changes between the original bill and the State Affairs
committee substitute.
SENATOR COGHILL discussed the policy recommendations for limited
driver's license, administrative license revocations, food
stamps, public assistance, re-entry program, community work,
limiting pretrial credit to 120 days, suspended entry of
judgment, and victim's rights, all of which are in the "other"
category.
He noted that the State Affairs Committee inserted a provision
requiring a drug and alcohol test to qualify for public
assistance. He said he doesn't know if it's constitutional, but
any number of jobs require similar testing as a matter of public
safety. He opined that there shouldn't be a privacy issue.
2:54:36 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said it's an equal protection under the law issue
and she'll be looking for the nexus and equal application.
SENATOR COGHILL indicated he was open to the discussion.
He asked Mr. Shilling to supplement the discussion on community
work.
2:57:24 PM
MR. SHILLING described the two aspects to the community work
service change. One is to prevent the conversion of community
work service hours to prison time. The commission felt it was
odd that there was a non-incarceration option that could be
converted to incarceration. There was some thought that the
state shouldn't pay for someone to spend 10-15 days in prison
simply because they couldn't or didn't want to complete their
community work service. The second aspect is if there is an
indigent offender who is required to pay a fine, there is an
option in statute for them to work off the fine. Existing
statute says $3 and the bill links the work to the minimum wage.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked if restitution could be included.
MR. SHILLING said he would look into that.
SENATOR COGHILL asked Mr. Shilling to speak to limiting pretrial
credit to 120 days.
MR. SHILLING explained that the provision to cap the pretrial
credit to 120 days was at the request of the Office of Victims'
Rights. Anecdotal reports were that the day-for-day jail credit
equivalency for spending time on electronic monitoring created
an incentive for defendants to delay their trial in perpetuity
to get that credit.
SENATOR COGHILL asked Mr. Shilling to discuss the suspended
entry of judgment.
MR. SHILLING explained that it is very similar to the existing
suspended imposition of sentence. A person admits their guilt
and if they successfully complete some programs, their
conviction is set aside. The major difference is the judgment
wouldn't be entered in the first place and would provide some
record confidentiality upon completion of the SIJ.
SENATOR COGHILL added that the case will be viewable on
CourtView while the case is active, which was a request of the
Office of Victims' Rights.
3:02:07 PM
CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked the sponsor and his staff and held SB 91
in committee.
3:02:20 PM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair McGuire adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
meeting at 3:02 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB182 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
SJUD 3/9/2016 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |
| SB182 Supporting Documents-Family Tree DNA Letter.pdf |
SJUD 3/9/2016 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |
| SB182 ver H.PDF |
SJUD 3/9/2016 1:30:00 PM |
SB 182 |