California bill boosting domestic violence penalties fails again. Why Democrats aren’t on board

Domestic violence is not always classified as a violent felony in California.

Assemblyman Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, has tried this year and last year to make more types of domestic violence eligible for more prison time. But most Democrats refuse to go along, and they have the support of criminal justice reform groups.

This week, his effort failed again, and the bill appears dead for the year.

Why does Patterson find making these changes so difficult?

One reason is that domestic violence is a broad offense that encompasses a variety of criminal behavior. This makes it tough to write a sweeping law that would punish certain gradations of the crime more harshly.

Prosecutors can currently charge domestic violence as a felony or a misdemeanor, making it a so-called “wobbler” offense, according to an Assembly Public Safety Committee staff analysis of the bill. It said all the other crimes on the state’s list of violent offenses can be charged only as felonies.

Patterson said he was targeting domestic violence offenses that fall in between misdemeanors and those causing significant injuries. Courts could still choose to charge some offenses as misdemeanors, he said.

California’s penal code describes domestic violence as a “corporal injury resulting in a traumatic condition” inflicted on the parent of the offender’s child or a current or former spouse, cohabitant or dating relationship.

Domestic violence can be a misdemeanor or a felony, the analysis said, because it is defined broadly. It can include lower-level crimes, as well as those causing life-threatening injuries.

“It would be unprecedented to add felony domestic violence to the list of ‘violent felonies’ because ... the crime of domestic violence is a ‘wobbler’ and would be inappropriate to add to the ‘violent felony’ list,” the analysis said.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, is among those saying the current laws are sufficient.

“California’s existing punishment for domestic violence is severe and includes significant prison time,” said Cynthia Moreno, a Rivas spokeswoman, in a statement.

Bill fails again

Patterson took up increased domestic violence penalties after a similar bill failed in the Assembly Public Safety Committee last year. His previous bill also dealt with human trafficking and rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person. This time, he narrowed it to apply only to the felony form of domestic violence.

He’s attempting to correct what he sees as a problem with prisoners earning credits that reduce their sentences.

Proposition 57, which voters approved in 2016, allowed early parole opportunities for certain nonviolent offenders. It also gave the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation the power to let inmates convicted of both nonviolent and violent crimes more quickly earn credits to leave prison by participating in rehabilitative programs.

Patterson believes this increased credit-earning allows inmates to get out too soon.

“My goal is to stop them from being released early,” Patterson said on Monday, before AB 2470’s hearing got canceled. “I’m not against them having a strikable offense. But I will be open to conversations on just preventing the early release.”

The state’s three strikes law doubles prison time for those convicted of a felony after they were previously found guilty of a serious or violent felony. Californians previously convicted of two serious or violent felonies could received 25 years to life in prison.

But the bill was one of more than a dozen Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, removed from the agenda on Monday, the day before its scheduled hearing

Friday is the deadline for policy committees to advance bills headed to the Assembly and Senate Appropriations committees. That means some bills taken off the agenda, including AB 2470, are effectively dead for the year.

McCarty cited the large amount of legislation members have advanced this year when explaining why he did not hear the chunk of bills.

“We felt that the bills that we didn’t hear were duplicative of some of the work that we’ve done already this year,” McCarty said. “So we’re super confident and proud of the stuff we’ve had moving to the floor or Appropriations, and that’s kind of a wrap for the year from the Assembly side.”

McCarty did not respond to a request from The Sacramento Bee to clarify how Patterson’s bill was duplicative.

The committee’s decision not to hear the bill was a win for criminal justice reformers

“California law already recognizes domestic violence is a violent crime that can be charged as a strike under California’s three-strikes law when the facts show an assault that was likely to result in injury or involved a firearm,” said Anne Irwin, founder of Smart Justice California, a criminal justice reform advocacy group, in a statement.

Republicans on Thursday will attempt to force a full Assembly vote on Patterson’s bill, along with others that did not get a hearing in the Public Safety Committee. The move has very little chance of success in the Democratic-controlled body.