california legislature—2023–24 regular session

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 852

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

February 14, 2023

An act to add Section 17.3 to the Penal Code, relating to crimes.

legislative counsel’s digest

AB 852, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Sentencing: bias.
Under existing law, a conviction or sentence is unlawfully imposed
on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin if the defendant proves,
among other things, that the defendant was charged or convicted of a
more serious offense than defendants of other races, ethnicities, or
national origins, or received a longer or more severe sentence, and the
evidence establishes that the prosecution more frequently sought or
obtained convictions for more serious offenses against people who share
the defendant’s race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified, or if a
longer or more severe sentence was more frequently imposed on
defendants of a particular race, ethnicity, or national origin, as specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to rectify racial bias,
as specified. The bill would require courts, whenever they have
discretion to determine a sentence, to consider the disparate impact on
historically disenfranchised and system-impacted populations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.​
State-mandated local program: no.​

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

line 1 SECTION 1. Section 17.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

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 AB 852 —2—

line 1 17.3. (a)  It is the intent of the Legislature to rectify the racial
line 2 bias that has historically permeated our criminal justice system as
line 3 documented by the California Task Force to Study and Develop
line 4 Reparation Proposals for African Americans.
line 5 (b)  Whenever the court has discretion to determine the
line 6 appropriate sentence according to relevant statutes and the
line 7 sentencing rules of the Judicial Council, the court presiding over
line 8 a criminal matter shall consider the disparate impact on historically
line 9 disenfranchised and system-impacted populations.

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