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SB 94 IN THE SPOTLIGHT AS LEGISLATURE ENTERS THE HOME STRETCH
This is it, the final week of the 2023-24 legislative session. On Saturday, the Legislature adjourns for the rest of the year. But don’t expect this week to go by quietly.
A fight is brewing over SB 94, a criminal justice bill by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, to allow for inmates sentenced before June 5, 1990, who have served at least 25 years in custody to petition for re-sentencing. It specifically exempts serial killers, sex offenders and those found guilty of killing police from this process.
The proposal didn’t go over well with legislative Republicans, to put it mildly.
“When violent murderers brutally take a life, they lose their right to freedom. Their punishment is in the name — life without parole,” Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, said in a statement.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, added, “The fact that Democrats are debating whether or not to keep violent murderers behind bars shows how out-of-touch they really are.”
Laura Pettigrew, of the group Crime Victims United, said in a statement that SB 94 “is opening up the nightmare and anxiety of having to go back to court and face the monsters, followed by the possibility of a lifetime of parole hearings.
“I am disillusioned and in anguish wondering when victims’ families can mourn quietly for their loved ones without worrying about legislation that will reopen up wounds from their past,” she said.
In a press release last week, Republicans brought out a series of cases of people convicted of murder that they alleged would be eligible for resentencing to parole under the bill as it’s currently written.
This prompted Cortese to release his own statement, slamming his GOP colleagues for spreading “misinformation” about his bill.
He argued that his bill creates “a tough, four-tiered process” in which the courts will have complete discretion to leave the sentence unchanged or refer it to the Parole Board and ultimately the governor.
“At each level, public safety is paramount, by utilizing the four-tiered process we are ensuring that only those who have rehabilitated pursuant to a judicial court, the Parole Board, and our governor have the potential to be released. All three must agree. Only those having already served a minimum of 25 years may request a hearing,” Cortese said.
He reiterated that his bill “will not let a single person out of prison,” and called it “a conservative, narrow bill tailored to a specific subsection of our incarcerated population who may not have received the same sentence had they been convicted in the present day.”
SB 94 currently sits on the Assembly floor, and will likely be taken up sometime this week.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“RFK Jr. was recruited to run by MAGA activists. His campaign was funded by Trump’s largest donor. Now he’s taking his far-right ideas and joining the Trump camp. No surprise there. #BrainWormsUnite.”
– Senate President pro Tem Mike McGuire, discussing Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s decision to suspend his campaign and endorse former President Donald Trump, via X.
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