On Monday, California Democrat Assemblymember Ash Kalra brought a bill that would allow convicted murderers who were sentenced to life in prison to petition for early release back to life. Senate Bill 94, which had been put on the “inactive file” by Kalra just over a year ago, would apply to those sentenced prior to 1990 and have served at least 25 years of their life sentence. The bill would not apply to those who were convicted of the murder of a police officer or were serial killers.
The bill was taken out of the inactive file without discussion by the Assembly and will now be taken up for consideration again and sent through the process of being debated and voted on during this legislative session. The bill, originally introduced in January 2023, immediately received fierce criticism from crime victims and victims’ rights organizations.
The bill was passed through the State Senate in May of last year on a mostly partisan split, with only four Democrats voting against the bill. After it stalled in the Assembly after being passed out of committee, Assemblymember Kalra quietly placed the bill in the inactive file. After being revived, the bill immediately received criticism from various groups.
The leader of Crime Victims United quickly crafted a letter Monday afternoon, urging lawmakers to vote no on 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 Harriet Salarno, the chair of CVU. “It would allow individuals who committed heinous crimes to potentially escape justice and receive reduced sentences, despite the severity of their offenses.”
However, proponents of the measure say it would not guarantee an early release for any eligible felons. Rather it would create a process where the murderers could petition to have their cases reviewed and heard under the current guidelines. Supporters believe that those convicted prior to 1990 were denied the benefits of so-called criminal justice reforms that were brought about in the years after.
“There are people languishing in state prisons that if they were in court today, would receive a more just sentence,” wrote an official with the Ella Baker Center in support of the bill in an analysis of it last year.
California has seen some controversial policies and laws enacted in the last several years, that have directly affected the criminal justice system and public safety negatively. In 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB109 into law, which allowed prisoners to petition for early release. Known as the Prison Realignment Bill, it transferred hundreds of prisoners to county jails to free up space, as well as allowing certain prisoners to be released early on what is known as Non-Revocable Parole (NRP). Voters passed Propositions 47 and 57 2013 and 2016 respectively, which decriminalized or reduced certain drug, theft, and property crimes that were felonies into misdemeanors, as well as allowing for parole opportunities for “non-violent” offenders.
Also in 2016, voters passed Proposition 66, which kept in place the state’s death penalty and rejected another proposition that would have eliminated it. However, in 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom illegally and controversy issued orders to place a permanent moratorium on the death penalty in California, closed death row, and transferred all death row prisoners to other prisons where they would serve life sentences.
It is unclear how the passage of this latest bill will affect public safety going forward, critics also claim that if this legislation were to pass, sentencing guidelines would possibly change as well, possibly eliminating the sentence of life in prison without parole. It is also unknown as to when SB94 will be taken up for reconsideration or another vote.
