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California inmates convicted of nonviolent sex crimes may be eligible for early parole consideration as part of a ballot measure that nearly two-thirds of voters approved four years ago, the state's Supreme Court recently ruled.
The 2016 initiative was never intended to cover sex offenders, former California Gov. Jerry Brown, who championed the effort, has said. But lower courts ruled that the plain language of the initiative means they cannot be excluded from consideration as nonviolent offenders, and the high court agreed on Monday.
"The initiative’s language provides no indication that the voters intended to allow the (Corrections) Department to create a wholesale exclusion from parole consideration based on an inmate’s sex offense convictions when the inmate was convicted of a nonviolent felony," wrote Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in the unanimous decision.