CA: Prison Break (.. Governor has released 14 times as many as his predecessor, Gray Davis)

Mercury News ^ | 10/29/06 | Howard Mintz

[NormsRevenge]

Locked up in a state prison cell in Tracy, Alan Mann was so excited he had to put down his newspaper when he got word that Gov. Gray Davis had been tossed from office in the historic 2003 recall election.

As a convicted felon serving a life sentence for killing his best buddy in a San Jose field in 1980, Mann couldn't vote. But he had more than a passing interest in seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger replace Davis -- ... snip ...

For Mann and the 29,000 state inmates serving life sentences for murder and other serious crimes, there was virtually no chance of parole under Davis. In fact, just months earlier, the parole board had voted to free Mann, but Davis reversed the decision.

With Schwarzenegger's election, there was renewed hope that the politics of parole could shift in California.

--snip--

In California's fickle parole system, prisoners serving life terms have had a much better chance of release under Schwarzenegger. A Mercury News review of the 126 cases in which Schwarzenegger paroled lifers shows that dozens of them involved the same inmates Davis rejected. To experts, it's a clear sign that a Republican governor with a ``Terminator'' role on his résumé feels better insulated against political attack on the issue than a Democrat worried about looking soft on crime.

The odds are still against convicted murderers and others serving life terms because Schwarzenegger reverses his parole board's decision to release lifers about 75 percent of the time. But he has let 126 of these inmates go free in his three years in office, while Davis paroled just nine lifers in about five years.

Schwarzenegger also has nearly surpassed former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, who allowed 132 lifer inmates to be paroled in eight years.

[NormsRevenge]

fyi .. The Mercury News endorses the Gubinor's re-election.

[CindyDawg]

Not everyone in prison needs to be there. He rejects 3 out of 4 recommendations. That sounds conservative to me. I would think this would be a very hard decision to make. It's easy to say, keep them locked up.

[NonValueAdded]

"Willie Horton lite" Ahnold still has a long way to go to catch up with the record of Gov. Michael Dukakis and his Lt. Gov. John F'n Kerry when it comes to putting convicted murderers back on the street. At least the Terminator works through the parole board and doesn't simply give out weekend passes to lifers in order to keep them "manageable." The Racism charge quickly turned Willie Horton into a dirty word but the actual facts behind WH are a quintessential peek into the psychosis of the liberal mindset.

[NormsRevenge]

No doubt that Gray was a real hard a**, he was a Hollywood lawyer, yaknow..

While many would say let 'em rot, but for the grace of God go one of any of our family or acquaintances who led either a tragic life or made tragic choices.


Now, if we could only get the other end of the penal system (and death penalties) working a little faster.

[yankeedame]

The odds are still against convicted murderers and others serving life terms because Schwarzenegger reverses his parole board's decision to release lifers about 75 percent of the time.

=======================================

"When a felon's not engaged in his employment
Or maturing his felonious little plan
His capacity for innocent enjoyment
Is just as great as any honest man.

"Our feelings we with difficulty smother
When constabulary duties to be done
Taking one consideration with another
A policeman's lot is not a happy one

"When constabulary duties to be done, to be done
A policeman's lot is not a happy one

"When the enterprising burglar's not a-burgling
When the cutthroat isn't occupied in crime
He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling
And listen to the merry village chime

"When the coster's finished jumping on his mother
He loves to lie a-basking in the sun
Taking one consideration with another
A policeman's lot is not a happy one

"When constabulary duties to be done, to be done
A policeman's lot is not a happy one."

[CindyDawg]

HMM. I guess the express lane could move a little faster.