SACRAMENTO – – Today, Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City) reacted to a new report that the Newsom Administration is moving closer towards a permanent expansion of the state’s failed early prison release program:
“We were all hoping that the gang shootout blocks away from the State Capitol would serve as a crime wakeup call for the Governor and Capitol Democrats,” said Gallagher. “Unfortunately, we were wrong. The Newsom administration is quietly pushing forward with their plan to further slash prison sentences for violent, unrehabilitated felons. Every Californian should be infuriated by this, especially those who have been victimized as a result of this state’s failed early release experiment.”
CalMatters reported this morning that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation quietly submitted the permanent regulations to the Office of Administrative Law late last month. The pending regulations will triple the amount of time some inmates are able to earn off their sentences and result in violent felons being released after serving less than half their original sentences.
In April, Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to direct the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to withdraw the dangerous early release regulations and allow the emergency pandemic rules to expire. Despite repeated requests, not a single Democrat lawmaker signed the letter opposing this early release expansion.
The letter highlighted spiking crime throughout California, as well as the case of Smiley Martin, who was released from prison in February after serving less than half a 10-year sentence for brutally assaulting his girlfriend. Barely a month after his release, Martin was arrested as a suspect in the Sacramento gang shootout that left six people dead just a block from the State Capitol.
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“We were all hoping that the gang shootout blocks away from the State Capitol would serve as a crime wakeup call for the Governor and Capitol Democrats,” said Gallagher. “Unfortunately, we were wrong. The Newsom administration is quietly pushing forward with their plan to further slash prison sentences for violent, unrehabilitated felons. Every Californian should be infuriated by this, especially those who have been victimized as a result of this state’s failed early release experiment.”
CalMatters reported this morning that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation quietly submitted the permanent regulations to the Office of Administrative Law late last month. The pending regulations will triple the amount of time some inmates are able to earn off their sentences and result in violent felons being released after serving less than half their original sentences.
In April, Republican lawmakers sent a letter to Governor Newsom urging him to direct the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to withdraw the dangerous early release regulations and allow the emergency pandemic rules to expire. Despite repeated requests, not a single Democrat lawmaker signed the letter opposing this early release expansion.
The letter highlighted spiking crime throughout California, as well as the case of Smiley Martin, who was released from prison in February after serving less than half a 10-year sentence for brutally assaulting his girlfriend. Barely a month after his release, Martin was arrested as a suspect in the Sacramento gang shootout that left six people dead just a block from the State Capitol.
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