Capitol State Capitol. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
Bill to Give Early Release To Prisoners Serving Life w/o Parole Back in CA Legislature
Bill returns after being inactive for nearly a year
By Evan Symon, August 14, 2024 2:45 am
A bill that would give early release to some prisoners serving life without parole was removed from the inactive file on Monday, bringing it back to the state legislature after almost a year of sitting on the shelf in Sacramento.
Senate Bill 94, authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Los Gatos), would specifically authorize an individual serving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a conviction in which one or more special circumstances were found to be true to petition for recall and resentencing if the offense occurred before June 5, 1990, and the individual has served at least 25 years in custody.
SB 94 would not allow parole in several circumstances, including if the individual was convicted of first degree murder of a peace officer. The bill would also authorize the court to modify the petitioner’s sentence to impose a lesser sentence and apply any changes in law that reduce sentences or provide for judicial discretion, or to vacate the petitioner’s conviction and impose judgment on a lesser included offense, as specified and require a court to consider and afford great weight to evidence offered by the petitioner to prove that specified mitigating circumstances are present.
Senator Cortese wrote the bill last year aiming to release elderly prisoners in the California prison system, especially if they have been proven to have rehabilitated after decades behind bars. He also argued that those after the age of 40 are less likely to commit violent acts and that violence at a young age and other factors should be in play when considering a parole for them.
In a statement last year, Cortese said that “SB 94 would allow a small population of the oldest incarcerated Californians to petition a judge for a parole hearing. People who could demonstrated their complete rehabilitation after decades in prison would face three levels of intense evaluation: the judge, the Board of Parole Hearings, and the Governor. Elder people who have turned their lives around after decades behind bars would have an opportunity to rejoin society instead of continuing to contribute to mass incarceration. It’s time to put these cases in line with California’s modern justice system.”
However, multiple law enforcement groups, DA organizations, and victim organizations quickly railed against the bill, saying that it would give a possibility of release to some of California’s most violent criminals of the past. Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward told the Globe last year that SB 94 would let many of these people back out on the streets.
Out of Inactive
“If this bill passes the Legislature and Governor Newsom signs it, they are telling you that there is no crime so violent, so depraved, or so heinous that grants perpetual protection of our society,” DA Ward said. “This bill is a sham and an affront to the people of California. This bill is a travesty to victims’ families. Victims and their families are told that life without parole means no leniency, and especially in a death sentence. But this bill completely undermines no leniency.”
SB 94 proved to be a divisive bill in Sacramento last year. Most Republican lawmakers and a few Democrats opposed the bill, but overwhelming Democratic support kept the bill rising through to Assembly subcommittees. However, support for the bill waned in August and September, leading lawmakers to shelve it in the inactive file in September 2023. For nearly a year, most in Sacramento thought that the bill was dead, especially because it came into odds against the slew of ‘tougher on crime’ bills that were introduced earlier in the year and kept SB 94 from being reactivated.
But on Monday, with only weeks to go until the end of the session, lawmakers brought back the bill. It is now eligible for a floor vote in the Assembly. However, the bills passage is in doubt, especially as lawmakers have been supporting more and more tougher on crime bills this year. Nonetheless, those opposing the bill quickly acted on Monday and Tuesday, sending letters to lawmakers urging them not to support the bill.
“We believe that this bill is not only unjust but also undermines the rule of law and the justice system in our country,” wrote Crime Victims United Chairwoman Harriet Salarno on Monday. “It would allow individuals who committed heinous crimes to potentially escape justice and receive reduced sentences, despite the severity of their offenses.”
Capitol staffer “Dana” added, “Everyone honestly thought that this bill was done for and that it would come back in a heavily amended way. Well, they proved us wrong. Inactive bills have the habit of doing this, but SB 94 was surprising because of how much the crime climate has changed in only a year. We’ll see what happens. If this does pass, a lot of families of crime victims are going to be very upset, and you do not want those people to oppose you if you are a politician.”
It is currently unknown when the next vote on SB 94 will occur.
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May 11, 2023
Trying to figure out what on earth has given CA legislators the idea that CA voters, whether Repub or Dem or NPP or Green, have become MORE amenable and welcoming to the “let-’em-all-out” thinking with regard to crime and justice issues than they were last year at this time when SB 94 was properly shelved? Do they REALLY think the people of California are feeling safer and more secure and free from criminal threat of all kinds, including VIOLENT criminal threat, than they were at this time last year? Do these people need Californians to spell it out and sign it in blood for them to get the message about what the public mood in this state is about these matters, now more than ever?
Find and contact your rep about this foolishness if you are so inclined.
assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers
senate.ca.gov/senators
VOTE NO on SB 94
Listen to Tulare County Tim Ward on the John & Ken Show from July 2023
Interview begins about 3 mins in and goes for about 10 mins
“John & Ken KFI-AM 640 talk to D.A. Tim Ward July 7, 2023”
https://omny.fm/shows/john-and-ken-on-demand/john-ken-show-hour-3-07-07-1
Also, Evan Symon DID link to this above, but be sure to revisit and reread Katy Grimes article from last year:
“Tulare D.A. Warns of Bill to Release Worst of the Worst Murderers After 25 Years” – July 6, 2023
https://californiaglobe.com/fl/tulare-da-warns-of-bill-to-release-worst-of-the-worst-murderers-after-25-years/
I feel that each individual case should stand alone. The death penalty was abolished yet life without is a death sentence!
Democrats HEART Criminals
No kidding, Enough Already, Democrats HEART criminals PASSIONATELY. In the original SB 94 as written, the Golden State Killer (!!!) would have been eligible. Go refresh yourselves out there on what that serial killer did, and HOW he did it, for how LONG he did it, and then come back here and try to convince anyone that SB 94 is good or was ever good. Outrageous
They are not democrats but Reds, okay people? In the book, “Pawns In The Game,” (1958) page 165, prisoners and criminally insane were released from prisons and asylums to operate as Shock Troops in every Red Revolution as in Russia, Spain, etc. “In every revolution to date the anti-social prisoners and criminally insane have been used to arouse the blood-lust in the mob and thus introduce the ‘Reign of Terror’ which, the revolutionary leaders calculate, will cause the general public to surrender in the quickest possible time.” Makes sense to me. Any other reason is senseless.
Exactly!
Great post, Roberta!
I think this bill would save California a lot of money by re-evaluating LWOP. People need to realize that there is a criteria that must be met, this not a get out of jail free card. It will be a rigorous battery of testing, mental health and they will have to achieve milestones of various types to be even be considered. As someone who was a victim to brutal crime in 1970. My family perpetrator served 7 to life for murder. He was released and relocated. To date he lives a life in the right path. Remember you have to heal, before passing judgment. Otherwise it’s nothing but hate that lives In your heart. 2nd chances is what we all deserve, no matter the crime.
Would you feel so forgiving if the person went back to a life of crime and killed again? A jury has determined a sentence of Life Without the Possibility of Parole. Because the victim was a family member does not make you an expert on prisoner reform measures. Let the legal system work and let punishments fit the crimes. Pray for their souls but leave them in prison.
“Deborah, your words couldn’t be more true – people are capable of change and growth. However, the concept of LWOP (life without parole) is essentially a death sentence. The acronym CDCR stands for California Department of Rehabilitation, yet it seems that many inmates charged with harming a child are granted parole without completing any rehabilitation programs. This is a troubling double standard – a 20-year-old can receive LWOP for a gang shooting, while a 50-year-old may only receive a few years for a heinous crime against a 5-year-old. The fact is, a 20-year-old’s brain is not fully developed until the age of 25, and the brain’s chemical makeup is influenced by a multitude of factors such as life choices, ego, social acceptance, and traumatic experiences. These are all important factors that are not often discussed in the public eye, and it’s time for that to change.
Every single inmate must demonstrate true rehabilitation in multiple ways before being considered for release, and even then, they should be reintroduced to society through a specialized facility. Upon release, these inmates should be closely monitored for at least two years with an ankle monitor. If they commit any type of crime during this time, they should be sent back to serve the rest of their LWOP sentence. It’s time to prioritize the safety of our communities and give these inmates the necessary support and resources for true rehabilitation.”
Once again California government showing that they could not give a damn about the people in this state. I am surprised that folks have yet to storm the castle.