California legislators will continue to consider a bill that allows for the potential release of former death-row inmates convicted of murder, after it passed its first hurdle in the Senate Public Safety Committee April 11 on a 4–1 vote.
Authored by state Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), and co-authored by a list of Democratic senators, Senate Bill 94 aims to allow for judicial discretion of cases dating back to before June 5, 1990. The individuals in question are currently facing life without the possibility of parole.
Cortese argues that inmate populations targeted by the bill are less likely to commit another crime and should be eligible for sentencing review because they are older and have spent decades behind bars….