CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. VICTIMS\u27 RIGHTS. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND STATUTE.

Requires notification to victims and opportunity for input during phases of criminal justice process, including bail, pleas, sentencing and parole. Establishes victim safety as primary consideration in determining bail. Requires victims have safe access to courthouses. Provides more assistance collecting restitution. Prohibits release of defendants on their own recognizance for specified crimes, including serious or violent felonies. Authorizes courts of appeal to adjudicate death penalty appeals. Creates Department of Parole to handle all parole hearings. Requires prosecutors receive certain benefits and be paid salaries comparable to similar public attorneys. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Increased state and county judicial system costs that may initially exceed $100 million and amount to tens of millions of dollars annually thereafter on a statewide basis. A net increase in costs for state prison operations that, depending on circumstances, could range from millions to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. A potential net savings in the low tens of millions of dollars for the administration of parole reviews and revocations if the changes related to parole revocation procedures were not overturned by potential legal challenges. A net increase in local government costs for county jails, work release programs, probation supervision, and other local law enforcement agencies in the millions to tens of millions of dollars annually on a statewide basis. (Initiative 07-0096.) (Full Text