SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE February 17, 1999 1:40 MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman Senator Dave Donley Senator Johnny Ellis MEMBERS ABSENT Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman Senator John Torgerson COMMITTEE CALENDAR SENATE BILL NO. 11 "An Act relating to good time credits for prisoners serving sentences of imprisonment for certain murders, attempted murders, or conspiracies to commit murder." -HEARD AND HELD PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION SB 11 - No previous action to report. WITNESS REGISTER Ms. Margot Knuth Assistant Attorney General Department of Corrections PO Box 110300 Juneau, AK 99811 POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed SB 11 Mr. Michael Stark Assistant Attorney General Department of Law PO Box 110300 Juneau, AK 99811 POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed SB 11 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 99-10, SIDE A Number 001 VICE-CHAIRMAN RICK HALFORD called the Judiciary Committee meeting to order at 1:40 and announced SB 11 would be the first and only order of business. SB 11-PRISON TIME CREDITS FOR MURDERERS SENATOR DAVE DONLEY, prime sponsor of SB 11, explained that SB 11 changes how "good time" credits are awarded to prisoners in Alaska. Under SB 11, prisoners convicted of the crimes of first and second degree murder would receive + of the good time credit they currently receive. SENATOR DONLEY stated that Alaska has generous good time provisions; Congress has adopted a standard that mandates 85% of a sentence must be served and has encouraged states to comply with this. Alaska is in a small minority, according to SENATOR DONLEY; in fact, three states mandate that 100% of a sentence must be served. Number 050 Under the good time provision in SB 11, Alaska would still allow more than a 15% good time reduction; SENATOR DONLEY thinks this would make justice in Alaska more comparable to that of other states. Also, SB 11 would make the consequences of these most serious crimes more meaningful and would send the message that, "we're simply not going to tolerate murder in Alaska." SENATOR DONLEY said this issue came to his attention while attending a memorial for victims of murder in Alaska. He was approached by families of murder victims who felt justice was not done and murders were being allowed back on the streets too quickly. SENATOR DONLEY concluded SB 11 is a moderate and fair step toward justice in Alaska. SENATOR HALFORD asked what other crimes fall into the category of unclassified felonies. SENATOR DONLEY replied the Department of Law could better answer that question. SENATOR HALFORD explained he was concerned about a possible equal protection challenge to SB 11. He wondered if the objective of the bill would be met by including all unclassified felonies. SENATOR DONLEY replied he had considered that, but did not think the reduced good time provision in SB 11 was appropriate for nonviolent unclassified felonies. He would like to limit the bill to focus on first and second degree murder in order to make a statement about those particular crimes. Number 110 MS. MARGOT KNUTH, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Corrections, informed the committee that the crimes of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, first-degree sexual assault and first- degree misconduct involving a controlled substance are also unclassified felonies. MS. KNUTH articulated the Department of Corrections' concerns about SB 11. First, the department has submitted a zero fiscal note since the bill will have no fiscal impact within five years. However, the bill will eventually have a significant fiscal impact on the department. If the bill had been enacted January 1, 1998, it would have cost an additional $1.2 million to pay for the extra incarceration time. MS. KNUTH reported that Alaska still faces serious prison overcrowding and, if SB 11 passes, longer periods of incarceration will increase the costs of care. Also, longer sentences mean more prisoners will have to be sent out to Arizona or more prison beds must be created in Alaska. MS. KNUTH pointed out the difficulty in imposing a non-uniform system of good time credit. Having a different system for one population is difficult for the department to administer. She said if the intent of the bill is to increase the length of sentences for first and second degree murder, the Legislature might better deal with that concern directly. MS. KNUTH said she had not heard complaints from the public that murder sentences are too short. SENATOR HALFORD interjected, "I definitely have." MS. KNUTH explained the results of a comparison the department ran on the release age of prisoners incarcerated for first and second degree murder. Currently, the earliest release age for people convicted of first-degree murder is 88. Under SB 11, this would become 104. On the other edge of the spectrum, a first-degree murderer now scheduled to be released at age 56 would be released at age 63 if SB 11 became law. Similarly, second-degree murderers generally do not get out before age 50. MS. KNUTH said SB 11 raises the issue of medical costs for prisoners, already an extremely large component of the cost of care. At this age, the added cost of incarceration will be more than simply the additional number of days a person spends in prison. Number 191 SENATOR HALFORD asked if a release provision exists that allows prisoners who are no longer a threat to be released. MS. KNUTH replied there is such a provision, but it is so limited that a person, in some instances, has to be a quadriplegic to be let out. MS. KNUTH suspected this provision should be addressed at some point. Number 204 SENATOR ELLIS asked MS. KNUTH about the people that SENATOR DONLEY referred to, those out walking the streets after twelve to fourteen years. MS. KNUTH replied, currently, the shortest sentence for first-degree murder is 20 years, and this prisoner was granted relief from the court. MS. KNUTH noted the average sentence for murder one is 77.5 years. The average sentence for second degree murder is 42 years. MS. KNUTH explained that this average was calculated using a maximum 99 year sentence per prisoner, even in cases where a single prisoner was awarded multiple 99 year sentences. MS. KNUTH reported the minimum sentence for second- degree murder is five years but she has never seen that sentence handed down. SENATOR DONLEY remarked that there are quite a few people convicted of murder in the second-degree who fall into the category he named. SENATOR HALFORD mentioned he figured out that if this bill adds 1311 years to prison sentences, at $50 per person, per day, the cost would be $23 million. Number 244 SENATOR DONLEY mentioned other states do not have uniform good time standards. He provided committee members with a handout illustrating the different standards used in different states. He contended he did not believe the standard proposed in SB 11 would be too difficult for the department to calculate. He said all that would have to be done is, "figure what they'd normally get and divide it by two. That's about as simple as you can get, Mr. Chairman, and I really am confident that the folks at the Department of Corrections can handle that." Number 270 MR. MICHAEL STARK, Assistant Attorney General with the Department of Law and counsel to the Department of Corrections, agreed that the standard in SB 11 looks simple enough on the surface. However, MR. STARK explained, he has dealt with many cases where the issue has turned out to be anything but simple. The current good time accounting procedures were adopted in 1986 at the request of the administration, because of the problems resulting from having three separate time accounting systems in place. The system in place when a person is convicted of a crime is the system that follows them throughout their sentence. In cases of multiple convictions, a single person can fall under multiple time accounting systems. MR. STARK informed the committee that expensive lawsuits have been filed against the state due to early and late release dates resulting from inaccurate, complex time accounting calculations. MR. STARK expressed his preference for the Legislature to deal directly with the length of sentences for first and second degree murder. He said, "if the Legislature is interested in increasing sentences . . . please deal with it directly at the front door, rather than at the back door. . . ." He said this would reduce mistakes in time accounting and make things easier for the Department of Corrections. Number 301 SENATOR DONLEY said he was puzzled by the fact that almost 40 other states can deal with this if it is so difficult. He asked, if all that had to be done is to divide by two, why would this be so difficult. MR. STARK replied there are already three different time accounting systems in place for murderers, and the additional system proposed in SB 11 would make four. The chances of computational errors increase with each additional time accounting system, according to MR. STARK. SENATOR DONLEY stated Congress has adopted a national standard of 85% so the public knows how much time a convict will actually serve. He asked why this Administration thinks one-third is such a good standard, if it misrepresents to the public how much time a person will actually serve. MR. STARK replied the Legislature recently passed a truth-in-sentencing law that requires the amount of time a felon will serve to be announced in the courtroom. If a person attends a sentencing hearing, or if this information is reported, no one is misled. MR. STARK stated that good time is an incentive for good behavior and a safety valve for correctional personnel. SENATOR DONLEY concluded that the whole point of this is so sentences will correlate with time actually served. He concluded, "In Alaska, we're making some progress, but we're still not quite there." With nothing further to come before the committee, Vice-Chairman Halford adjourned the Judiciary committee at 2:05 p.m.