State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) this week announced the introduction of a bill that would reform mandatory sentencing laws.
Senate Bill 300 would eliminate a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for people convicted of a murder charge with special circumstances who did not commit the murder themselves.
Under current state law, the mandatory sentence for murders with “special circumstances” such as occurring during a robbery or burglary or other crime, is death or life in prison without the possibility of parole—even if the person was an accomplice who did not kill anyone or intend to do so.
SB 300 will give judges the ability to decide whether the special circumstance allegation should be found true for sentencing purposes, which would decide whether the person would be eligible for parole.
“Sentencing someone to die in prison by death penalty or without parole, is virtually unheard of in much of the world,” Cortese said in announcing the bill earlier this week. “California not only regularly imposes these sentences but requires judges to impose life without the possibility of parole for certain categories of offenses even on defendants who did not kill or intend a person to be killed.”
SB 300 would also provide an avenue for incarcerated people to petition the court for re-sentencing, offering recourse to hundreds of Californians awaiting execution or condemned to die in prison.
Cortese said SB 300 would give them the opportunity to be re-sentenced and the possibility to earn parole through rehabilitative programming, work, and good behavior.
SB 300 will require a two-thirds vote in both the state Assembly and Senate and be signed by the governor to go into effect.
“Senate Bill 300 would eliminate a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for people convicted of a murder charge with special circumstances who did not commit the murder themselves.”
What Mr. Cortese wants to do is take the right of the people (serving on juries and electing prosecutors) to determine the fate of those whose criminal acts result in murder and transfer it to judges increasingly vulnerable to the terror tactics of radical political partisans.
Stalin constructed a terror-controlled judicial system in the USSR to ensure it produced not justice but politically desirable results. What is it about such a system that appeals to Mr. Cortese?
*beep beep beep*
Here is the bill https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB300
There are many exceptions and its not part of any coordinated “legal reform”. More chipping at the sides – almost looks like a special favor for a constituent?
IMHO this bill would need to be part of a broader discussion that needs to take a back seat to handle the more pressing needs. I have real reservations about this legislators ability to work on the right things at the right time. Remember he tried to sell a serious tax hike last year so the COVID hole could be filled without a lot of work on his part. It failed. So will this bill but not before it wastes alot of time.
cessante ratione legis cessat ipsa lex
when the reason for the law ceases, the law itself ceases
“Sentencing someone to die in prison by death penalty or without parole, is virtually unheard of in much of the world.”
So is shutting down economies.
What is not said in this article is that every person this bill seeks to help has previously been determined by a jury (unless they pled guilty) to have been a major participant in a dangerous felony and have acted with reckless indifference to human life. In practice that means the defendant had a role far greater than the stereotypical getaway driver in a robbery and that they had a mental state that was with full awareness that someone could, and probably would, be killed.
The article obscures the fact that, while it will be a judge who makes the determination, it will be the prosecution who has to re-prove the special special circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt, sometimes decades after the killing or killings. Often the evidence is lost due to witnesses who have died, and as a result the defendant gets an underserved windfall.
Of course, totally absent in this article is any discussion about the effect on the victims families by reopening these cases. The California constitution gives victims the right to a prompt and final conclusion of their case. Finality is not served by starting a whole round of proceedings and proof decades later. Apparently Mr. Cortese does not care.
What a bizarre ?world we live in. The working class is taxed and ignored. And, despised by many of our elites while they fall all over themselves to help felons, drug dealers, and addicts. And of course their favorite sacred cow, the homeless.
Do you remember how they told us that sanctuary county/city status will make it safer for all of us. Bambi Larson died because of the sanctuary policy and so have many others. What’s even worse is that most of the crime committed by illegal aliens, who are protected by the city/county, is committed against other immigrants.
How about a little legislation to help the taxpayers?
This is no disrespect to the victims families, but charging multiple people for a murder in some cases and giving them zero chances of a release even after 25-40 years in prison is excessive. Let’s also keep in mind that sentences of Life without Parole are disproportionately handed to Blacks and Latinos. The chances of an individual committing murder after 25 years served is less than 1%. I imagine the money saved from incarcerating these individuals for over 25 years will have a positive impact on all Californians
What’s also not being said is the average age of individuals in this state sentenced to Life without Parole under the current “special circumstances” is 19 years old. Again no disrespect intended to victims families but there has to be some reason this is not how sentences are handed down in the rest of the world. Offenders under 26 years old have already been granted an opportunity to reduce sentences, all except for the ones sentenced to die a slow death. Also get away drivers, lookouts, and all accomplices if they are black or Latino are often sentenced to Life regardless if they are the actual killer.