S.B. 1322 2015-2016 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2016).
- Modifies the penal code to prohibit the arrest, detention, charging, and adjudication as delinquent any child under the age of 18 with crimes related to prostitution. Instead, they are to be treated as victims of exploitation and directed towards services.
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CA. PENAL CODE § 1170(b)(6)(C) (2023); CA. PENAL CODE § 1170(c)(8)(A).
- Requires court to impose a lower sentence if the person has experienced psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including abuse, neglect, exploitation, or sexual violence.
- The court may resentence the defendant to a term that is less than the initial sentence if the person has experienced psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including, but not limited to, abuse, neglect, exploitation, or sexual violence.
- This law applies retroactively.
CA. PENAL CODE § 236.14(a) (2023); CA. PENAL CODE § 236.15 (2023).
- Provides that if a person was arrested for or convicted of any nonviolent offense committed while he or she was a victim of human trafficking, including, but not limited to, prostitution, the person may petition the court for vacatur relief of his or her convictions and arrests under this section.
- The court may “vacate the conviction and expunge the arrests” if it finds all of the following:
- The petitioner was a victim of human trafficking at the time the nonviolent crime was committed.
- The commission of the crime was a direct result of being a victim of human trafficking.
- The victim is engaged in a good faith effort to distance himself or herself from the human trafficking scheme.
- It is in the best interest of the petitioner and in the interests of justice.
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S.B. 545(a)(3)(A)(ii), 2023-2024 Leg., Reg. Sess. (Cal. 2024).
- Requires the juvenile court to consider evidence offered that indicates that the person against whom the minor is accused of committing an offense trafficked, sexually abused, or sexually battered the minor and requires the juvenile court to retain that minor in its custody if such evidence is received unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that such trafficking or sexual violence did not occur.
See here for a Brief Guide on Vacatur Relief Under CA Penal Code § 236.14.
CAL. RULES OF COURT, RULE 4.423(a)(9).
- It is a mitigating factor that the defendant is under 26 years of age, or was under 26 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense.
- It is a mitigation factor in sentencing that the defendant suffered from repeated or continuous physical, sexual, or psychological abuse inflicted by the victim of the crime, and the victim of the crime, who inflicted the abuse, was the defendant’s spouse, intimate cohabitant, or parent of the defendant’s child; and the abuse does not amount to a defense.
- This rule applies both to mitigation for purposes of section 1170(b) and to circumstances in mitigation justifying the court in striking the additional punishment provided for an enhancement.
