One version of California Sentencing Commission legislation has seen the light of day. AB 160 by Assemblywoman Lieber seems to be a skeleton bill. It creates the commission and says it will issue guidelines, but how the guildelines fit or replace the current system is not specified.

Politically, the bill calls for six members of the commission to be appointed by legislative leaders, outnumbering the five appointed by the governor. That is very bad news and reason enough for fierce Republican opposition and, if it comes to that, a veto, and, failing that, a referendum. In California's unusual politics, the leadership of the Legislature is solidly in the hands of the left wing of the Democratic party. Republicans and moderate Democrats (largely from the Central Valley) together constitute a majority, but those moderates never become the leaders. The leaders come from the most deeply partisan areas where being on the fringe wins the primary and the general election is a foregone conclusion. I hesitate to say that the legislative leaders actually care more about the criminals than the victims, but their actions are often consistent with such a view. Any plan that puts this crowd in de facto control of California sentencing needs to be killed, and the sooner the better.