Posted on 06/19/2004 8:22:44 AM PDT by TERMINATTOR
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California governor who made his name playing movie tough guys, is under attack for freeing a record number of "lifers" from prison.
The governor has granted parole to 34 convicted murderers and kidnappers in his first seven months of office, an astonishing record compared with his predecessor.
Democrat Gray Davis, the former governor, freed only eight life sentence prisoners in his four-and-a-half years in office.
The Terminator star turned Republican politician believes, however, that "people can reform and be reformed".
But his approach has brought criticism from victim support groups. Harriet Salarno, president of Crime Victims United of California whose 18-year-old daughter was murdered by an estranged boyfriend in 1979, expressed concern at Mr Schwarzenegger's record.
"We supported Governor Davis because he was concerned with public safety," she said.
Of the killers freed by Mr Schwarzenegger, "let's just pray to God that they don't become repeat offenders".
The actions of the "Governator", as the former Conan the Barbarian actor is often termed, is giving inmates across the state hope and encouraging them to turn their lives around, said one recently freed lifer.
Adam Riojas, a former estate agent convicted of murder in 1991, was released by Mr Schwarzenegger after 13 years behind bars.
Mr Riojas had maintained his innocence and refused to plea bargain.
Then in 2002, his relatives told the state parole board they had heard Riojas' estranged father, a drug smuggler, confess to the killing shortly before his death.
The board, with no objection from the prosecutors whose case convicted Mr Riojas, decided he deserved parole.
Their recommendation was sent to Mr Davis, who, having publicly vowed to keep convicted murderers in jail, rejected it.
But a year later, after the tumultuous recall election that changed the state leadership, Mr Riojas was free.
Mr Riojas and Justin Brooks, his lawyer, said Mr Davis had opted for a blanket rejection of parole for convicted murderers.
Mr Brooks said the details of Riojas' case were identical in each of his two parole moves.
"Politically, I think Governor Davis was unwilling to give the appearance that he was soft on crime."
Peter Siggins, Schwarzenegger's legal secretary, said it was due to a difference in philosophy.
"He's a governor who believes people can reform and be reformed."
Until Mr Davis's final year, only three murderers were paroled, all women who killed men they claimed had persistently abused them.
One convicted murderer, Robert Rosenkrantz, sued Mr Davis, claiming the governor's no-parole policy violated his rights.
A judge agreed in 2001 but was the decision was reversed on appeal.
Mr Davis rejected 286 lifers recommended for parole. Of the 95 recommendations sent to Mr Schwarzenegger, he has denied 58 and sent three back for further review.
Donald Specter of the Prison Law Office, a prisoners' rights organisation, said the governor was giving more hope to inmates but not going far enough.
Few of the lifers who seek parole each year - about 150 from more than 4,000 - win recommendations from the nine-member parole board, which scrutinises inmates' criminal history, prison behaviour, psychological profile and likelihood of committing another crime.
I had to check the source a couple of times to make sure it didn't say 'The Onion'.
I don't like this.
But look at the story.
Arnold "granted parole to 34 convicted murderers and kidnappers in his first seven months of office."
Davis "freed only eight life sentence prisoners in his four-and-a-half years in office."
I don't trust a paper that tallies killers and kidnappers for one person but only counts killers in the other.
I would like to know the other side of the story.
First-degree kidnapping is punishable by life imprisonment in California, so "life sentence prisoners" does not necessarily include only murderers.
True, but the Earl raises a valid point. They are comparing apples and oranges to some degree.
Perhaps this is true. That his father was the murderer and not he. It could just be me, but unless the deathbed confession was notarized, I don't know how trusting I'd be of the family of the convict.
But are all the cases like this? Where there is evidence to prove the person in jail is innocent? Or are they looking at good behavior and things like that?
The last I heard anything about the CA justice system, it had to do with the three strikes law, where people who committed three minor felonies ended up going to jail for life. Is this still in place? If so, are any of them being considered for parole, or just violent criminals?
If there are people among Schwarzenegger's "murderers and kidnappers" who were not sentenced to life, or among Davis's "life sentence prisoners" who were not murderers and kidnappers, then the thesis of the article is not an "apples and oranges comparison," but an out-and-out lie.
Too late for another recall? McClintock wouldn't have allowed this to happen.
They claim that we can send someone away for "life", but we all know that is not the case.
Perhaps it is time for a law that prohibits the parole of any one given life in prison.
I would prefer we leave a way out to correct any miscarriage of justice, but it is clear that this can be abused.
I did not vote for Arnold simply because a R behind your name does not make you a Republican. Here we can see further evidence of that fact.
When one of these men kills someone, and we can almost guarantee they will, the blood will be on the Governor’s hands.
Neither would Derrick Schmansky.
How about we just leave them IN prison and then we don't have to wonder whether they have turned their lives around or not?
I really hate stuff like this because it gives ammo to those who say, "There's no difference between Republicans and Democrats."
Wasn't the Rojas family the ones that made a large contribution to the Archbishop of LA, and got him to recommend parole? I think they contributed to Davis's campaign too, and mayby even Ahhhnold's. Both major parties are for sale to the highest bidder.
Good! More room for the potheads. < /Sarcasm >
I don't know the particulars of these cases, so I can't tell on that basis whether Arnold is being too lenient or not. But the statistics here are highly misleading.
Gray Davis correctly understood that the Democrats' "soft on crime" reputation was a severe political liability for him, especially after observing Kathleen Brown's collapse in the 1994 Governor's race over the death penalty issue. So Davis was determined to create an image of being tough on crime. To that end he over-ruled his own parole board numerous times and permitted very, very few paroles to go through.
For example, this article says that Pete Wilson (who during his term was considered quite strict on paroles) averaged 12 paroles per year (which would be around 60 over 8 years), compared to Davis' 8 paroles over 5 years. That's a pretty tiny number in a state the size of California.
So it is not so unreasonable that Schwarzenegger would grant parole at a rate more in keeping with past Republican administrations. After all, Arnold doesn't have a problem maintaining a "tough-guy" image. It may also be that Schwarzenegger is playing a bit of catch-up, if there is a backlog of prisoners who deserve parole but who were arbitrarily denied it by Davis.
I was wondering about the same thing, particularly if there was a backlog of people who should be released after five years of Davis. Still, Arnold is a softie when it comes to a chance for him to appear magnanimous, which is why he won't do squat about spending.
Would you expect less from a liberal who is really a Demoncrat?
Hey, YOU voted for him. Now you've got him ... gay marriages ... soft on crime, PRO abortion ... geesh why be outraged now over WHO he is - just another liberal.
Arnold has a lot of things to dig out from, and this apparently is one of them.
Let's not forget who's been running California for far too long. Based on what I'm seeing here, parole policy has finally been de-politicized.
That doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me.
Don't forget the 3 socialist environmental bills he is pushing through. There goes what is left of your property rights. I wish those who supported Arnold would get off their collective arses and help us fight them.
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