Bill to Free California’s ‘Worst-of-the-Worst’ Murderers is Dead for the Year

A controversial bill that would have given early release to some prisoners serving life without parole was officially ended by legislative Democrats on Thursday, pulling the bill because of growing pressure from pressure from Republican and moderate Democrat lawmakers, victims’ rights groups, law enforcement, and the public.

Senate Bill 94, authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Los Gatos), would have specifically authorized 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 had served at least 25 years in custody.

SB 94 would not have allowed parole in several circumstances, including if the individual was convicted of first degree murder of a peace officer. The bill would have also authorized 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 and require a court to consider and afford great weight to evidence offered by the petitioner to prove that specified mitigating circumstances are present.

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.

However, the bill was reactivated earlier this month, surprising most lawmakers as they had assumed the bill was dead. Angered at the eleventh hour attempt at passing it without it being given the proper amount of time for analyzation and debate, Republicans and some moderate Democrats in the legislature quickly rallied against the bill, with many victims, victims families, and law enforcement groups speaking out against the bill and bringing it to the general public’s attention. To the ire of bill supporters, the effort worked, as public sentiment rapidly shifted against the bill as well. While the votes were still possibly there, bill supporters saw the growing backlash and, on Thursday, withdrew the bill, officially ending SB 94.

Senator Cortese lamented the abrupt end of the bill on Thursday, noting in a statement that “After two years of negotiations and over a dozen deliberated amendments, I am incredibly disappointed that SB 94 was not granted the opportunity to be heard and the amendments considered for vote by the full Legislature. The bill, like those it would’ve helped, did not get its day in court. The California model of rehabilitation often works, but we must do better. We must continue the conversation and revisit racist, inconsistent and harmful sentencing that has disproportionately impacted Californians for over twenty years, and will continue to wreak havoc until fixed.”

Bill opponents, conversely, celebrated the defeat of the bill, marking a victory for the GOP and  victims families.

The author of SB 94 just announced the bill won't move forward this year. This radical policy sought to release the most heinous murderers from prison.

Thank you Californians for standing up for justice, victims' rights, and public safety.

Together, we've ensured that when…

— Brian W. Jones (@SenBrianJones) August 29, 2024

“The radical SB 94 was a direct assault on the rights of California families who have suffered the unimaginable loss of a loved one at the hands of violent criminals,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego). “Thank you to Californians for standing up for justice, victims’ rights, and public safety. Together, we’ve ensured that when violent murderers brutally take a life, they lose their right to freedom—forever. Their punishment is in the name: life without parole. While I’m relieved that this dangerous legislation is finally dead for the year, we’re ready to continue the fight if it comes back. Californians will not stand for letting heinous murderers roam our streets.”

Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) added, “The outcome of SB 94 would’ve been disastrous for public safety and victims’ rights. We know that when voters come together and demand to be heard, even the supermajority has to take it seriously and listen to the will of the people. That is what we saw happened today, a victory of the people over dangerous proposed policies.”

Others noted on Thursday that while the bill may be tried again in the coming years, the removal of the bill showed just how many Californians still fell on justice and crime-related issues.

“Justice won out today,” explained Wayne DiMarco, a former police officer who helped raise awareness of the bill coming back to several cities in the Inland Empire, to the Globe on Thursday. “You know, we’ve seen some of these laws that went way too far be pushed back against the last few years, but I wasn’t sure if it was a fluke or temporary thing. But today, with SB 94 being killed like that because of overwhelmingly public outcry, because of the families of victims coming out and the public acting human to their plight, it gives hope. California did the right thing, which is something we haven’t heard so much in recent years.

“I was a cop, and helping get justice and closure for victims, well, it was important. Whatever little bit I could do, even if it meant parking outside a victims house for several nights to make them feel better. Had this bill passed, and the Governor signed it, all hell would have broken loose. Can you imagine seeing the criminal of someone who did something heinous to a loved one just walk out of prison despite being given a life sentence? Californians did. Republican lawmakers did. Law enforcement did. And look how quickly it was taken out again.

“The public does not want this, full stop. And thankfully, Sacramento listened.”