Posted on 11/28/2003 9:39:44 AM PST by PeteFromMontana
Schwarzenegger paroles woman who killed husband's mistress
The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to parole a woman who killed her husband's mistress in 1987, the second time in a week the newly elected governor has granted the release of a convicted murderer.
Schwarzenegger's decision Wednesday marks a departure from former Gov. Gray Davis, who during his five years repeatedly refused to grant paroles approved by the state's Board of Prison Terms.
Davis blocked all but eight of 294 paroles approved by the board in murder cases. He twice rejected parole for Rosario Munoz, the woman Schwarzenegger has agreed to free.
Under state law, the governor can reject the state board's parole decisions. California is one of only three states that grants governors that power.
Schwarzenegger did not comment on his decision to parole Munoz, a 51-year-old mother of three who was convicted in 1989 of killing her husband's lover in Los Angeles.
The board's approval of Munoz's parole was based on her apparent remorse for the killing, psychological evaluations that showed a slim chance of her offending again and her efforts to raise money for the victim's daughter by selling portraits, said board spokesman Bill Sessa.
Schwarzenegger granted his first parole last Thursday, three days after taking office, when he agreed to release a Sacramento man convicted of a 1985 murder. He also denied parole for a man who killed a woman while driving drunk in 1986.
With Davis it was probably to maintain full employment of prison guards and make him look tough on crime. Why else would he reject ~97% of the recommendations from a panel he probably appointed, concern for victims or the community was not in his philosophy.
I'm guessing, but perhaps because they were guilty of murder, and the parole board was more liberal than he was.
He's tough as an actor, but who knows as a politician. He won't stand tough for the unborn.
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