Some Important New California Criminal Laws for 2021

With the start of the new year, we have some important new criminal laws going into effect in the Golden State.  Some of those laws include:

·         AB 1869, which curtails some onerous court fees and makes collecting unpaid balances on these fees unenforceable.

·         AB 3234, creates a misdemeanor diversion program and allows vests judge’s with the authority to dismiss certain misdemeanor offenses in their discretion.   They can do this now, over the DA’s objection.

·         AB 1950, completely changes probation terms. It lowers the probation term to one year for misdemeanor offenses and two years for felony offenses.  There are some exceptions, notably, where the misdemeanor or felony offense statute specifically states a longer probation term.  But for many offenses, this shorter probation period will be controlling.

·         AB 2425, ensures that minors who come into contact law enforcement or the probation department, but who do not end up in the juvenile court, do not have their police records shared with other agencies.  This law ensures their records remain confidential and helps to avoid the negative consequences that can flow from an arrest that did not result in juvenile court jurisdiction.

·         SB 384, this bill goes into effect on July 1, 2021 and will create a three-tiered system of sex offenses, enabling tier one and tier two offenders to petition for removal of sex offenses after ten and twenty years, respectively.  Tier three offenders would still be subjected to lifetime registration.

·         Proposition 17, which passed in November 2020, restored felons voting rights and gave felons on parole the right to vote. In 2016, Assembly Bill 2466, restored voting rights for felons who were not on parole; proposition 17 took this one step further.

·         AB 1775, makes it a crime to make a fake 911 call based upon discriminatory reason.  Calls like this will now be classified as a type of hate crime.

Some of these new laws will have a profound impact on current criminal cases pending in the court system.  If you are affected by one of these new laws, feel free to contact our office to see how we can assist in your legal matter, you can reach our office at (559)222-2424 - Michael E. Mitchell