SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- More than 250 state prison inmates freed without supervised parole under a new California law were convicted of crimes considered violent or threatening, according to prison records obtained as part of an inquiry by state lawmakers. A handful are sex offenders.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state corrections officials said the law, passed last year, was designed to improve public safety by concentrating parole supervision on the most dangerous felons. Allowing those convicted of lesser offenses to go unsupervised after their release would mean fewer people being sent back to prison for parole violations, reducing the inmate population and saving the state money.
Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate and state lawmakers repeatedly said that only nonviolent offenders -- mostly those convicted of white collar, property and drug crimes -- would be freed without monitoring. At the time the law took effect on Jan. 25, Cate promised it would not lead to dangerous felons being unsupervised after their release.
"If you're a serious offender, you're ineligible. If you're a violent offender, you're ineligible. If you're a sex offender, you're ineligible. All that's defined," he said during a news conference the day the law took effect.
The department's own records paint a picture that conflicts with Cate's pledge, although most do not appear to violate the strict letter of the law. A corrections spokesman said the problem is with the law, not with the way the department has handled the releases.
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