California’s “Elderly” Parole Law

CJLF CEO Anne Marie Schubert has this op-ed in the Sacramento Bee on California’ “elderly” parole law.

The law absurdly defines “elderly” as over 50, and it permits parole after 20 years regardless of the minimum term specified in the sentence or in the law under which the inmate was sentenced.

California’s elderly parole law is the most lenient in the nation. While 24 other states have similar programs, most automatically exclude murderers and sex offenders. California does not.

The only exemptions for the Elderly Parole Program in state law are for prisoners sentenced to death or life without the possibility of parole, for prisoners sentenced under California’s strike laws for a second or third strike, or prisoners convicted of first-degree murder of a peace officer or former peace officer.

What this law does not take into account is that many dangerous felons are not exempted from the Elderly Parole Program.