If a person is convicted of burglary of a home, has prior convictions for rape and murder, and had a gun in his waistband when he broke into the home, how long should we keep him in prison?
Under California sentencing law, the violent priors and the gun use result in major sentence enhancements that extend the term far beyond that for burglary alone. Yet Governor Jerry Brown has proposed an initiative that would make this career criminal eligible for parole after he has served his term for the burglary alone, which could be 2, 4, or 6 years. (Penal Code ยง461(a).) That is insane.
John Myers has this story in the LA Times. It quotes me on a version of the above example, although the quote is a bit truncated.
Is it an answer to say we can trust the parole board not to let him out too early? No, our experience from an earlier era when the parole board had nearly unlimited power demonstrates that we cannot. That was why we needed to pass the tougher laws in the first place.
Under California sentencing law, the violent priors and the gun use result in major sentence enhancements that extend the term far beyond that for burglary alone. Yet Governor Jerry Brown has proposed an initiative that would make this career criminal eligible for parole after he has served his term for the burglary alone, which could be 2, 4, or 6 years. (Penal Code ยง461(a).) That is insane.
John Myers has this story in the LA Times. It quotes me on a version of the above example, although the quote is a bit truncated.
Is it an answer to say we can trust the parole board not to let him out too early? No, our experience from an earlier era when the parole board had nearly unlimited power demonstrates that we cannot. That was why we needed to pass the tougher laws in the first place.
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