Assembly Bill 2479, which would have allowed many felony offenses that did not result in a prison sentence to be reduced, is apparently dead in the California State Assembly. This news coming from a reliable source who has been lobbying for the bill.
AB 2479, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Steven Bradford, Democrat - Los Angeles, was a similar to a bill that was originally sponsored by State Senator Roderick Wright, which may explain the assembly versions demise. Senator Wright's bill was killed once it was learned that the Senator could personally benefit from the bill. Senator Wright, like three of his colleagues, is facing felony charges. So, passing a bill to reduce felonies to misdemeanors presents political problems. The Democratic Senate leadership said wrong time and wrong author. They called it "dead on arrival."
So, we turn to the lower house, the State Assembly.
Senator Bradford boldly rose to the challenge and authored AB 2479. The bill had support from the usual Democrat coalitions and may have found broader support. However, the prospect of the the bill passing the Assembly and going to the alleged felon filled Senate was probably too much of a game of hot potato for the Democrats, despite the support from their coalitions... especially in an election year.
So, hopefully, this much needed reform gets better treatment in 2015, after an election year and maybe with a few less elected officials facing felony charges. What a year.
