Today, the Legislature will vote on the Democrats’ prison budget proposal, which includes several dangerous elements, such as releasing inmates early from prison, rewarding thieves for stealing vehicles valued under $2,500, and creating a public safety commission that would allow membership by an ex-felon.

This measure is offensive to law-abiding Californians and an affront to crime victims. Making matters worse, this is an all-or-nothing bill – meaning the Democrats put several ideas into one bill and snuck in things like a sentencing commission that has nothing to do with reducing prison costs and everything to do with an elitist political agenda. 

Specifically, Assembly Bill X3-14 creates the California Public Safety Commission, composed of 16 members one of whom will be an ex-felon appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
Allowing an ex-con to sit on a public safety commission sounds like a parody out of Mad Magazine. Unfortunately it’s a real proposal, which means one of the commissioners could potentially be Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme, the recently released felon who attempted to assassinate President Ford and an avid follower of Charles Manson.

The Commission will be given power to make statewide policy concerning public safety issues such as criminal sentencing, an authority that is usually reserved for elected officials who are empowered by voters.

Permitting non-elected and unaccountable commissioners to set policy is a contrast to our form of representative government. And given that the Democrat-controlled Legislature will confirm the appointees, the majority party will be hesitant to overturn the laws that the commission has put in place.

ABX3 14 also reduces the penalty for vehicular theft when a stolen car is valued under $2,500, which means poor neighborhoods will be targeted by thieves who don’t want to risk earning a felony charge. The measure would also authorize the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to extend good time-off credits to inmates who are waiting to be transferred to a fire fighting camp, but not actually working on fire lines. 

Democrats want to give credit to inmates for merely breathing. This is just another creative way to release felons early from prison before they have adequately paid for their crimes or attempted to rehabilitate.

The safety of Californians will be in great jeopardy with the passage of this bill and the formation of this committee. But it will be a good thing for criminals.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 20th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.