A bill that would allow some prisoners serving life sentences without parole to be released early was removed from the docket and returned to the state legislature on Monday after being on hold in Sacramento for nearly a year.
Senate Bill 94, authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Los Gatos), would explicitly grant a person serving a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole who has been found to have one or more special circumstances the right to recall and resentencing, provided the crime was committed before June 5, 1990, and the person has served at least 25 years in prison.
SB 94 would not allow parole in several cases, including if the person was convicted of the premeditated murder of a police officer. The bill would also authorize the court to modify the plaintiff’s sentence to impose a lesser sentence and apply any changes in law that reduce sentences or provide judicial discretion, or to vacate the plaintiff’s conviction and impose a sentence of a lesser offense, as specified, and require a court to consider and give great weight to the evidence presented by the plaintiff to demonstrate that certain mitigating circumstances exist.
Senator Cortese authored the bill last year with the goal of releasing older inmates from California’s prison system, especially if they can be shown to be rehabilitated after decades in prison. He also argued that people over 40 are less likely to commit violent crimes and that violence at a young age and other factors should play a role in considering parole for them.
In a statement last year, Cortese said, “SB 94 would allow a small group of the oldest incarcerated Californians to petition a judge for a parole hearing. People who could demonstrate full rehabilitation after decades in prison would be subject to intensive evaluation at three levels: the judge, the parole hearings board and the governor. Older people who have turned their lives around after decades behind bars would have the opportunity to reintegrate into society rather than continue to contribute to mass incarceration. It’s time to bring these cases into line with California’s modern justice system.”
But several law enforcement groups, prosecutors and victims’ organizations quickly opposed the bill, saying it would give some of California’s most violent criminals a chance to end their incarceration. Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward told the Globe last year that SB 94 would put many of those people back on the streets.
Off inactive
“If this bill passes the House and Governor Newsom signs it, they’re telling you there is no crime so violent, so depraved, or so heinous that will grant our society eternal protection,” DA Ward said. “This bill is a travesty and an insult to the people of California. This bill is a travesty to the families of the victims. Victims and their families are being told that life without parole is no mitigation, especially not for a death penalty. But this bill undermines any mitigation.”
SB 94 proved to be a controversial bill in Sacramento last year. Most Republican lawmakers and some Democrats opposed the bill, but overwhelming Democratic support ensured the bill made it all the way to Assembly subcommittees. However, support for the bill waned in August and September, prompting lawmakers to place it on the inactive docket in September 2023. For nearly a year, most in Sacramento thought the bill was dead, largely because it clashed with the spate of “tougher on crime” bills introduced earlier in the year that prevented SB 94 from being revived.
But on Monday, just weeks before the end of the session, MPs reintroduced the bill. It can now be put to a vote in the Assembly. But the bill’s passage is in doubt, especially as MPs have been supporting increasingly tougher crime-fighting laws this year. Nonetheless, opponents of the bill were quick to respond on Monday and Tuesday, sending letters to MPs urging them not to support the bill.
“We believe this bill is not only unjust, but undermines the rule of law and our nation’s justice system,” wrote Harriet Salarno, chair of Crime Victims United, on Monday. “It would allow individuals who have committed heinous crimes to evade justice and receive a lesser sentence despite the severity of their crimes.”
Capitol staffer “Dana” added, “Everyone honestly thought this bill was done and would come back in heavily modified form. Well, they proved us wrong. Inactive bills have a habit of doing that, but SB 94 was surprising because the crime climate has changed so much in just one year. We’ll see what happens. If it passes, many families of crime victims will be very upset, and as a politician, you don’t want those people to be against you.”
It is currently unknown when the next vote on SB 94 will take place.
