The following summary of AB 788 was prepared for Lobby Day participants April 11, 2000

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JUVENILE LAW REFORM
AB 788 (Maldonado) Support

Assembly Bill 788 expands the juvenile law to provide for community restoration and services to the victims who have been harmed by juvenile offenders. It encourages involvement of the entire community, including victims, in a balanced and restorative justice system.

Specifically, the bill directs the juvenile courts, as they deal with offenders, to:

  • protect the public,
  • hold each offender accountable to the victim and community, and
  • assure development of basic living skills that will permit minors to live as law-abiding citizens.

    The bill states that the legislature intends the following principles to guide juvenile justice :

  • the public has a right to safe and secure homes and communities.
  • crime results in injury to the victim, the community, and the offender, which the juvenile justice system should seek to repair
  • a juvenile offender should be capable of living in a responsible and law-abiding manner when he or she emerges from the system
  • the unique set of experiences and circumstances contributing to the minor's offensive behavior must be addressed
  • the juvenile justice system will best achieve long-term public safety when community protection, accountability of the offender, and competency development are treated as equally weighted goals.

    Under existing law, when a young person is apprehended for a minor offense, the matter is frequently disposed of in a routine way, and no real effort is made to impress the offender with the impact that his or her actions have had on the victim, or on the community.

    A few counties, have begun to correct this problem by creating neighborhood accountability boards, family group conferencing, and victim offender programs. These programs help to assure that each juvenile understands that a living and breathing person has been seriously affected by his or her behavior. They provide an informal setting for victims to explain about the inconvenience and damage which as been suffered, and the offender is encouraged to listen carefully. Experience shows that when the offender listens, apologizes, and makes amends, a victim can more quickly achieve a restored sense of security and just treatment.

    All communities can benefit from such programs, and AB 788 will speed the adoption of these programs throughout the state.

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    On April 2, 1999 FCL delivered the following Letter to the Chair of the Assembly Policy Committee relating to AB 788 as introduced, (before amendments were made):

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    FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION OF CALIFORNIA
    926 J Street #707 - Sacramento - California 95814-2707 - (916) 443-3734

    April 2, 1999

    Mike Honda, Chair
    Assembly Public Safety Committee
    State Capitol, Sacramento

    Re: AB 788 (Maldonado) Support

    Dear Assembly Member Honda:

    The Friends Committee on Legislation supports AB 788, which expands the scope of victim-offender projects in California. The bill would enable community based organizations to address the needs of crime victims through victim-offender conferencing processes.

    In most counties, fiscal pressures on law enforcement result in situations where the vast majority of victims think that no one actually understands their real losses. This can be true even when an offender pays restitution. It is very important to develop programs which provide an informal setting for as many victims as possible to explain about the inconvenience and damage which as been suffered, in a setting where the offender is listening carefully. Victim-offender programs have demonstrated that when the offender listens, apologizes, and makes amends, the victims can more quickly achieve a restored sense of security and just treatment. Restorative remedies for juvenile crime are most effective when they rely on the hundreds of local leaders who are interested in working with youth in high-crime neighborhoods. This bill can help in building a network of official encouragement and reasonable financial backing for community-based organizations which help young people re-direct lives threatened by criminal activity.

    For the foregoing reasons, FCL supports AB 788.

    Yours very truly,

     

    STEPHEN C. BIRDLEBOUGH

     

    cc: Abel Maldonado, Member of the Assembly .

     

    THE FCL IS A QUAKER-SPONSORED LEGISLATIVE ACTION GROUP