08/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/28/2024 12:37
Today, California Senate Republicansannounced their vehement opposition to Senate Bill 898(D-Skinner), which would allow some of California's worst and most dangerous criminals to be released from prison. The full Senate Republican analysis of the bill can be found HERE.
"Rapists, drug dealers, murderers, child molesters and worse. These are the people that legislative Democrats care about, really?!" said Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones(R-San Diego). "Letting criminals with 15-plus year sentences out of our prisons and onto our streets is felony stupid. The people won't stand for it. Which few of my Democrat colleagues in the Senate and Assembly think this is a good idea?"
The bill, authored by a Berkeley Democrat, would allow inmates serving sentences of 15 years or more to be resentenced or released if sentencing guidelines have changed since they were convicted. Under complete Democrat control for the last 15 years, the Legislature has reduced, not increased, those sentencing guidelines.
In fact last year, the author falsely referenced crime data in saying that violent crime had "not significantly increased" and said that increasing crime was a "myth." In reality, violent crime has increased significantly over the past ten years with nearly 50,000 more victims last year than in 2014.
Senate Bill 898 is widely opposed by law enforcement and victims' rights groups, and is only supported by criminals' rights advocacy groups.
"We strenuously object to creating a revolving door of hearings for murders, rapists, and child molesters," said the California District Attorneys Association in a formal letter of opposition. "(This bill) would create a right for persons incarcerated for homicides and the most heinous sexual assault crimes - to petition for resentencing…" Click HEREto read the CDAA's opposition letter.