TAPE/#

Speaker

Comments

TAPE 103, A

003

Chair Burdick

Calls the meeting to order at 1:14 p.m. and opens a public hearing on SB 435.

SB 435 – PUBLIC HEARING

032

Rep. Gary Hansen

House District 44.  Testifies in support of SB 435.  Talks about the failure of Measure 30 forcing a re-evaluation of the budget.

053

Rep. Hansen

Advocates fiscal responsibility in our public safety system.

068

Rep. Chip Shields

House District 43.  Submits testimony from the Citizen’s Crime Commission and his own written testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBITS A & B).

110

Rep. Shields

Continues reading testimony in support of SB 435 relating to why this bill is important and needs to be implemented immediately.

148

Chair Burdick

Inquires about the earned time rate in comparison to recidivism in Washington state.

153

Rep. Shields

Discusses the preventative programs and methods that Washington uses to combat recidivism.

165

Sen. Ringo

Commends the Representatives for their support of the bill.  Inquires about the recidivism in Oregon as opposed to Washington.

171

Rep. Shields

Talks about the different Department of Corrections in both Washington and Oregon.

189

Craig Prins

Executive Director, Criminal Justice Commission.  Discusses their assumptions when analyzing the bill and the -2 amendment.  Goes over the process used by Legislative Fiscal to arrive at a fiscal impact statement for any bill impacting the criminal justice system.

232

Sen. Prozanski

Asks for any hard copies of the documents he is discussing.

234

Prins

Replies that the amendment came in too late to accurately draft any fiscal statement at the moment.

249

O’Leary

Talks about the effects resulting from the passage of the -2 amendment.

280

Prins

Discusses earned time behavior within the system. 

300

Chair Burdick

Asks for the ratio of earned time for inmates.

306

Sue Porter

Office of Economic Analysis.  Details the process for arriving at the ratio under question.  Cites an average ratio from the last few years.

336

Claudia Black

Portland State University.  Submits written testimony and presents data on recidivism rates within Oregon (EXHIBIT D).

364

Black

Goes over information on the data in the study, and talks about inmate characteristics in relation to recidivism.

388

Sen. Prozanski

Asks about the data relating to recidivism rates.

391

Black

Addresses the question by Sen. Prozanski on recidivism rates, and continues her presentation. 

406

Black

Discusses the fact that individuals who behave in prison are more likely to behave when released.

450

Sen. Whitsett

Inquires about the age of inmates in relation to her recidivism study results.

462

Black

Replies that she isn’t sure about the information, but will get the data to Sen. Whitsett.

TAPE 104, A

022

Sen. Prozanski

Asks about the data set from the study.

035

Black

Responds that the research was based only on the Department of Corrections data.

041

Sen. Beyer

Wonders about the ratio of earned time.

043

Black

States that, at the time of this study, around 60% of inmates earned the maximum time credit.  Gives statistical numbers over the last few years.

055

Prins

Stresses that some people are not eligible for earned time, and that these numbers need to be looked at.

061

Black

Clarifies that this study focused only on inmates eligible for earn time credit.

067

Sen. Beyer

States that the results of the study seem like basic logic.

093

Brigette Sarabi

Executive Director, Western Prison Project.  Submits two testimony packets and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBITS E & G).

128

Sarabi

Explains that the bill will save money; cites numbers on the amount saved by passing this bill.

155

John Topogna

Eco Northwest.  Submits a chart on government corrections expenditures and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT F).

209

Cynthia Guyer

Executive Director, Portland Schools Foundation.  Submits testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT H).  Details her personal story where she was a victim of armed robbery. 

245

Guyer

Acknowledges the finite amount of funding available for corrections.

279

Sen. Prozanski

Asks who this bill, with the -2 amendment, would apply to.

288

O’Leary

Replies with information on the effects of the -2 amendment.

299

Sen. Beyer

Inquires about the effects of the Blakely decision on this bill.

306

O’Leary

Responds that this bill would not be impacted by the Blakely decision.

325

Sen. Whitsett

Wonders about the increase of possible crime resulting from the early release of inmates.

333

Topogna

Details the policy effects from the bill.

351

Sarabi

Offers information on recent studies from the Washington Institute for Public Policy on preventative programs aimed at reducing recidivism.

398

Steve Doell

Crime Victims United of Oregon.  Submits written testimony and testimony from the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police testifies in opposition to SB 435 (EXHIBITS I & K).  Talks about the ideology and morality involved with public safety.

434

Howard Rodstein

Crime Victims United.  Testifies in opposition to SB 435.  Addresses the recidivism rates in Oregon.  Discusses how Oregon’s crime rate has decreased over the past few years.

475

Rodstein

Comments on the crimes affected by this bill.

504

Rodstein

Talks about a recent meeting with Ben DeHaan, a past Director of the Oregon Department of Correction, where he agreed that the study does not provide evidence that increasing earned time causes lower recidivism.

TAPE 103, B

040

Rodstein

Argues against the figures cited by the study presented earlier relating to earned time causing lower recidivism.

068

Bob Herman

Washington County District Attorney.  Testifies in opposition to SB 435.  Stresses the importance of having an individual stay in prison for the entire sentence s/he was charged for. 

110

John Foote

Clackamas County District Attorney.  Testifies in opposition to SB 435.  Discusses the reasoning behind the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines placed in effect with Measure 11.

126

Foote

Addresses a letter from Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schrunk (EXHIBIT J).

165

Douglas Harcleroad

Lane County District Attorney.  Submits testimony and a handout on sentencing guidelines and testifies in opposition to SB 435 (EXHIBITS L & M).

201

Chair Burdick

Points out that there are a finite amount of beds in the prisons and asks about the necessity of these inmates to occupy the beds.

228

Doell

Stresses that, according to the Criminal Justice Commission, 72% of individuals who commit felonies do not go to prison.

234

Foote

Advocates proportional response to crimes.

245

Sen. Prozanski

Addresses the -2 amendment, and asks about the standpoint of the Oregon District Attorneys Association.

253

Herman

Replies that they are opposed to SB 435 with or without the amendment.

261

Sen. Prozanski

Inquires about the 20% reduction in sentencing guidelines.

268

Foote

Talks about the 20% reduction in sentencing guidelines.

276

Sen. Prozanski

Wonders about violent crime reducing before 1995, and how it was possibly going down in Oregon.

286

Rodstein

Discusses violent crime rates in Oregon over the past forty years.

300

Sen. Whitsett

Asks about the percentages and ratios of reported crimes to actual convictions.

308

Rodstein

Cites a recent study dealing with reported crimes and convictions.  Stresses that a large percentage of felony crimes do not result in convictions.

351

Robert Zimmer

Former law enforcement officer.  Submits testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT N).

405

Arwen Bird

Crime Survivors for Community Safety.  Submits testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT O).

445

Bird

Stresses the importance of increasing the awareness and access to recidivism prevention within the corrections system.

TAPE 104, B

039

Jessica Stevens

Human Services Coalition of Oregon.  Testifies in support of SB 435.  Acknowledges the budgetary difficulties facing the legislature this session, but advocates for the passage of this bill.

063

Jo Smith

Jo Smith Associates.  Submits testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT P).

106

Pete Shepherd

Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice.  Submits testimony and testifies in opposition to SB 435 (EXHIBIT Q).

120

Shepherd

Addresses the issue of plea negotiations offered by the District Attorney during the last few years.

160

Janyce M. Iturra

Mother of a murdered son, Eugene.  Submits testimony and details her personal story involving violent crime (EXHIBIT R).

192

Iturra

States that her family has been extremely emotionally harmed due to this occurrence.  Stresses that these people are in prison for a reason and need to remain in prison for as long as possible.

225

Sen. Walker

Commends the witness on her testimony.

232

John Bradley

Assistant to Michael Schrunk, District Attorney in Multnomah County.  Testifies in opposition to SB 435.

260

John Bradley

Addresses the issue of the Blakely decision affecting minimum sentencing guidelines.

286

Chair Burdick

Asks about a cap for earned time.

303

Mark McDonald

Multnomah County District Attorneys Office.  Testifies in opposition to SB 435. 

330

McDonald

Addresses the sentencing guideline chart, and certain situations that would be affected by SB 435.

377

Sen. Prozanski

Talks about the methamphetamine issue and how Oregon is not the only state facing this problem.

390

Shepherd

Addresses the question relating to allowing the court to permit lower amounts of earned time for convicted individuals.

432

Tom Faye

Oregon Community College Association.  Submits testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT S).  Talks about the budget constraints facing the colleges today.

TAPE 105, A

015

Faye

Stresses the importance of funding community colleges, and how communities should not be forced to sacrifice their education for their safety.

025

Paul Solomon

Director, Men’s Services, Sponsors, Inc.  Testifies in support of SB 435.  Talks about the benefits resulting from allowing earned time.

068

William Robinson

Former inmate.  Submits testimony and testifies in support of SB 435 (EXHIBIT T).  Expresses his belief that earned time is an incredible impetus for offenders to shape up.

118

Verla Stice

Testifies in opposition to SB 435.  Details her mother’s story with violent crime and sexual abuse.

151

Christa Loveland

Director, Women’s Information Networking Service.  Submits testimony and testifies in opposition to SB 435 (EXHIBIT U).

188

Loveland

Talks about how every day is vital to the healing of a victim of a violent crime.

240

Cynthia Boyd

Registered Nurse, mother of two.  Testifies in opposition to SB 435.  Details her personal story of personal violence.

286

Chair Burdick

Introduces testimony from Janet Lovelace, Lloyd Clodfelter, Marie Armstrong, Elaine Premo, and Charlotte Comito (EXHIBITS V – Z).  Closes the public hearing on SB 435 and adjourns the meeting at 3:20 p.m.