SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Just days after regulations impacting the early release of inmates started, California Attorney General Rob Bonta is already being challenged to oppose them.
The challenge comes from Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, a candidate for Attorney General. On Monday, she issued a news release commenting on the early release regulations and calling on Bonta to oppose them.
“Over the weekend, with little to no public input, CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) announced regulations that will result in the early release of tens of thousands of dangerous inmates and have a drastic effect on public safety,” Schubert said in a news release. “This is wrong and dangerous for California. The Appointed Attorney General should oppose these rules that will result in thousands of dangerous inmates being released. The job of the Attorney General is to enforce the law to keep the public safe. To sit back and do nothing speaks volumes about his values towards public safety, crime victims and his ability to lead the office of the state’s top law enforcement officer.”
The regulations went into effect on Saturday, impacting early release eligibility for 76,000 inmates. Those inmates include violent and repeat felons. The move comes as the state aims to further trim the population of what once was the nation’s largest state correctional system.
More than 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes will be eligible for good behavior credits that shorten their sentences by one-third instead of the previous one-fifth under new rules. About 13,000 inmates convicted of serious but nonviolent offenses will be eligible for release after serving half their sentences.
Schubert criticized the regulations as abandoning victim's rights and noted the danger Californians face "with the early release of violent and dangerous people."
“Inmates convicted of felony domestic violence, hate crimes, human trafficking of a child, rape of a developmentally disabled person, and assault with a deadly weapon are now allowed to have their sentences reduced by 50% under these new rules," she said. "Inmates with long records of violent crimes are getting these reduced sentences under these new rules. As of December 2020, 4500 convicted sex offenders currently in prison will qualify for these reduced sentences."
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