California bill designed to protect young offenders signed into law

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- California Gov. Edmund G. Brown signed a bill Saturday that would create specialized review boards that may allow for prison-bound youths to serve time in lower security facilities with access to educational opportunities.

Assembly bill 1276 requires the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to administer committee reviews of offenders below the age of 22, discerning whether to place them at lower-level security facilities, thus increasing their exposure to educational and self-help programs.

Human Rights Watch endorsed passage of the bill. Elizabeth Calvin, senior children's rights advocate for the organization, said that it will change thousands of lives.

"This new law recognizes both the vulnerability and potential of young offenders," Calvin said. "It means fewer young adults will be raped and assaulted in prison. They won't be forced to turn to gangs for protection or in despair, and will have greater access to educational programs."

HRW reported that nearly 5,000 people below the age of 22 are admitted into California's penal system annually, and most of them are sent to maximun security facilities, or "Level IV yards."

One prisoner, known only as "J.M.," told HRW, "I came to prison at the age of 20 and it was very hard for me as a younger person being around older men who was crazy. I had to listen to them tell me what to do, wrong or right. I had to listen to them or be hurt."

"Young people are more susceptible than older adults to influences around them, both good and bad," Calvin said, adding that the bill is an "opportunity to positively shape the direction of a young person's life."

Assembly bill 1276 was one of many signed by Gov. Brown over the week. Other such bills included legislation to combat human trafficking; a law that would assist unaccompanied minors coming into California from Central America; and legislation banning the Confederate flag in the state.