California Appeals Court Blocks Early Release of Murderers

On July 28, California’s Third District Court of Appeal held that state law does not authorize the early release of murderers serving indeterminate sentences in state prison. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has been fighting hard to release its inmates as early as possible to include people convicted of the most serious of crimes. The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation has been fighting CDCR regarding giving these early releases.

The court decision in the case of Criminal Justice Legal Foundation (CJLF) v. CDCR invalidates regulations adopted by corrections officials which had allowed the release of convicted murderers years before they had served the minimum term of 15 or 25 years in prison. The lawsuit, brought by the CJLF on behalf of victims and their families, argued that the CDCR overstepped its authority by allowing the state’s most violent criminals to earn credits for good behavior to reduce their minimum sentence.

Writing for the majority, Justice Shama Mesiwala states, “Although we conclude above that the department has broad authority to award credits, its power to apply those credits is a different issue. Petitioners contend section 32 does not authorize the department to use credits to advance indeterminately-sentenced inmates’ minimum eligible parole dates in conflict with existing law. We agree.”

The court’s decision upheld, in large part, the 2023 Sacramento Superior Court ruling which also endorsed the CJLF position that the state did not have the authority to grant early parole to violent criminals serving indeterminate sentences. The Superior Court also issued a writ of mandate ordering the state to stop the early releases. That writ remains in force, although the Court of Appeal did require a minor modification.

In the Superior Court, Attorney General Bonta tried to have victims of crime thrown out of court without hearing the merits of their claim, arguing that victims have no standing to challenge the early release of the perpetrators of horrific crimes against them. The Superior Court rejected that argument, and the Attorney General did not appeal that portion of the ruling.

In both courts, Attorney General Bonta’s office argued that Proposition 57 gave CDCR the authority to give early release to roughly 70,000 inmates in prison for good behavior or participation in rehabilitation programs.  In 2021 Governor Gavin Newsom authorized CDCR to increase the number of inmates eligible for credits and the number of credits awarded to expedite early releases. The Board of Parole Hearings accordingly moved up the parole hearings for murderers and granted them parole earlier than the statute for murder sentences permits.

“The BPH has been granting parole to murderers years earlier than the law allows,” said CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger. “The appeals court decision confirms that this is unlawful. This is a resounding victory for the families of murder victims.”

CDCR and Newsome are still fighting for the early release of violent inmates. CDCR and Attorney General Bonta may file with the California Supreme Court to review this decision.