By John Cox
A second locally elected lawmaker has proposed state legislation at least partly inspired by the mental health diversion case of former Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner.
State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, introduced a bipartisan bill Friday that would impose new limitations on granting criminal defendants pretrial diversions that could result in charges against them being dropped.
Her Senate Bill 1373 would allow such diversions only if the mental disorder cited as a significant factor in criminal charges had been diagnosed within five years before the alleged offense. Among other criteria, the bill would also require a judge to consider the severity of injury to the alleged victim.
The bill’s introduction reflects not just the public outrage stirred in December when Scrivner was granted a mental health diversion after he was accused of inappropriately touching one of his children in April 2024 while high on drugs at his Tehachapi home. Co-authored by two Democrats and a fellow Republican, SB 1373 also demonstrates dissatisfaction with such programs elsewhere in California.
“This is not about politics. This bill is about public safety and it’s about justice,” Grove said at a news conference Tuesday morning in Sacramento. Calling some diversions a “get out of jail free card,” she added that Scrivner’s case “served as an example of how broken this program really is.”
Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, has also introduced legislation this session aimed at reforming the diversion system. Grove said SB 1373 was different in that it focuses on judicial discretion and attempts to make repeat offenders ineligible for diversion, among other distinctions. She said she applauded everyone working on changing the system.
The news conference notably included the first public comments on the subject by Scrivner’s son Robert, as well as Robert’s mother, Christina Scrivner, who told reporters mental health diversions meant nothing to her until she suffered through an experience that rocked her family.
Robert spoke briefly, saying his father had assaulted his siblings and him. The reason he was speaking up to support SB 1373, he said, was to protect present and future victims.
One of two state lawmakers who joined Grove at Tuesday’s event, Sen. Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, recounted a case in which he said two parents were granted mental health diversion after being accused of calming their child with daily lithium pills and locking the child in a room overflowing with garbage and cat feces.
“We absolutely believe that it can be effective,” Krell said. However, she added, “the floodgates have been opened.”
The third co-author on SB 1373, state Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, did not speak at Tuesday’s event.
Existing law bans mental health diversions for criminal charges including murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape and continuous sexual abuse of a child. SB 1373 would add to that list attempted murder, kidnapping, carjacking and human trafficking.
Additionally, it would disqualify defendants with at least two prior felonies or a prior strike offense. It would require the court to consider defendants’ prior history in pretrial diversions and allow a judge to deny diversion if it’s more likely than not that the defendant, if treated in the community, will pose a risk of danger to public safety.
Also, the bill would require the court to conduct an additional hearing before granting mental health diversion.
The charges against Zack Scrivner — three counts of felony child endangerment and two felony firearms counts — do not include a sexual crime. If he completes the diversion program, all the charges could be dropped.
Bains introduced more than one bill addressing mental health diversions. One of them, Assembly Bill 2273, would remove a requirement that prosecutors show intent when charging a suspect with child sexual abuse if the suspect willingly took a mind-altering substance. It would require that diversion be based not only on charges filed but the underlying facts of a case.
Another bill she introduced, AB 2275, would bar courts from granting diversions based only on a diagnosis while also allowing a judge to order a defendant to relinquish firearms and pay financial restitution to victims.
This article originally appeared on Bakersfield.com: https://www.bakersfield.com/grove-introduces-scrivner-inspired-bill-to-limit-eligibility-for-mental-health-diversion/article_6b2f2dd4-a062-560a-a9b9-e164e34d2a7a.html
