Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 13:53:25 EDT
> Subject: [PNN] Measure to protect inmates' kids
> stalls
>
> Measure to protect inmates' kids stalls
> The bill would require judges to ask about
> children's welfare.
> By Jim Miller -- Bee Capitol Bureau
> Tuesday, June 4, 2002
>
> The Megan Mendez Act, named after the Modesto girl
> who died after her
> jail-bound mother gave her to neighbors, will not
> become law this year.
>
> The Assembly bill would have required the state's
> judges to ask inmates about
> their children, to ensure that they would be cared
> for while parents are in
> jail or prison.
>
> The measure stalled in the Assembly Appropriations
> Committee last month and
> never emerged before the May 31 deadline for
> legislation to clear the house
> in which it originated.
>
> "We knew our bill wasn't the cure-all. We thought it
> was a pretty simple
> bill," said Kelly Huston, a spokesman for the
> Stanislaus County Sheriff's
> Department, which sponsored the legislation.
>
> Huston said the department might sponsor the bill
> again next year.
>
> Megan's body was discovered in a backyard grave in
> south Modesto in December
> 2000. The girl's caregivers, Margarito and Josephine
> Origel, are awaiting
> trial on murder charges.
>
> Supporters said the legislation would have better
> protected the more than
> 800,000 children whose parents -- in most cases
> single mothers -- are behind
> bars.
>
> Its prospects appeared good when it was introduced
> earlier this year. Various
> law enforcement agencies were behind it. Assemblyman
> Dennis Cardoza,
> D-Merced, at the time chairman of the influential
> Assembly Rules Committee,
> signed on as the sponsor.
>
> But organizations representing the state's courts
> and its 1,600 judges said
> the measure would significantly increase judges'
> workloads.
>
> Also, a bill that was supposed to have only nominal
> costs was cast by critics
> as potentially adding millions of dollars in costs
> to the state-funded court
> system, at a time when the state treasury faces a
> projected $23.6 billion
> budget shortfall.
>
> "It was a very difficult bill for us to oppose,"
> said June Clark, a lobbyist
> for the state Judicial Council, the policy-making
> body for the state's court
> system. "But our challenge would be the time it
> would take."
>
> The bill initially would have required probation
> officers, during
> pre-sentencing interviews, to investigate the status
> of children. But a
> person can be in jail months or even years before he
> or she is convicted and
> sentenced.
>
> So the bill was amended to require judges to ask
> about the children at three
> stages: during arraignment, conviction and
> sentencing.
>
> The Appropriations Committee estimated that the
> extra work would cost from $5
> million to $50 million, depending on how much time
> it took judges to question
> defendants.
>
> Huston said opponents exaggerated the bill's
> effects.
>
> Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has promised to
> hold a summit on the
> children of inmates later this year.
>
> About the Writer
> ---------------------------
> Bee Capitol Bureau reporter Jim Miller can be
> reached at (916) 326-5544 or <A
> HREF="mailto:jmiller@modbee.com">
> jmiller@modbee.com</A>.