Today, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) and Senate Public Safety Committee Vice Chair Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) released the Senate Republican Analysis exposing details of Senate Bill 94 (Cortese), a dangerous proposal that seeks to release inmates sentenced to life without parole for heinous murders. Click here to read the full analysis.
“SB 94 could literally let hundreds of the most heinous murderers out of prison early, even if they were sentenced to life WITHOUT parole,” said Leader Jones. “This harsh punishment is reserved for the worst of the worst criminals. They’ve taken people’s lives away and are sentenced to spend the rest of theirs in prison.
“Last year, outrage from Californians effectively stopped this bill from moving forward. Now, Democrats are trying to sneak it through in the final weeks of session with supposed amendments. At this point, I don’t see any amendment that would warrant releasing these dangerous murderers. We are exposing the true evils of SB 94 today by publishing our internal Senate Republican analysis of the bill,” continued Leader Jones.
Specifically, SB 94 would allow violent murderers sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole to petition the court for a new sentence with parole, if the individual has served at least 25 years and if their offense occurred before June 5, 1990. The individuals who are eligible for new sentencing under this bill are convicted of a “special circumstance murder,” a conviction that is reserved for violent criminals who commit murder in a particularly egregious manner such as torture, poison, lying in wait, rape by instrument, mayhem, etc. Click here to read the Senate Republican analysis for the full list of horrific murderers that would qualify for early release under SB 94.
“The supermajority’s efforts to empty California’s prisons have become entirely too focused on the criminals and forget to consider the victims and their families,” said Seyarto. “It is unacceptable for legislators to show this complete disregard for those who have suffered by re-litigating crimes that have already received a fair trial. This bill sends a terrible message and retraumatizes families of victims who were reassured that the criminals who have done unspeakable things to their loved ones would never be released.”
Last year, Leader Jones alerted Californians about the dangers of SB 94 through an Instagram Reel video, which garnered over 430,000 views. Today, Leader Jones released a new Instagram Reel video providing Californians with an update on the Democrats’ attempt to jam this bill through in the last weeks of the legislative session.