-- Last revised Monday, November 18, 2002, 11:21 AM --
Criminal Sentencing
In 1999 the Commission received legislative authorization to study whether "the law governing criminal sentencing should be revised, nonsubstantively, to reorganize and clarify the sentencing procedure statutes in order to make them more logical and understandable." 1999 Cal. Stat. res. ch. 81.
The Commission decided to proceed on a narrow front -- it would reorganize only a small part of the sentencing laws as a test case. If the limited reorganization proved acceptable, work would proceed in other areas as well.
Response to the Commission's efforts was negative. Commentators disputed the need for reorganization and asserted that the costs associated with section renumbering would far outweigh any benefit. The Commission decided against proceeding further with nonsubstantive reorganization efforts. Work on this study has been suspended.
The Commission was assisted in this study by Brian Gurwitz of the Orange County District Attorney's Office, Mark E. Overland of Overland & Borenstein, Los Angeles, David R. Ross, Woodland Hills; and the Hon. David S. Wesley of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
If you have questions or comments on this study, send email to Brian Hebert at bhebert@clrc.ca.gov.
