CA Lawmakers To Consider Change To Life Without Parole

For California prisoners who committed crimes when they were young and received life sentences without parole, few opportunities exist to get a second chance. The possibility of a parole review is slim, while the likelihood of dying behind bars is all but guaranteed.

But one bill — which the Legislature is holding for consideration until 2026 — could change that if passed.

As CalMatters’ Joe Garcia explains, state Sen. Susan Rubio’s bill would open parole eligibility for some prisoners serving life sentences without parole for crimes they committed when they were 25 or younger. The individual would have had to have served at least 25 years of their sentence already, and eligibility for parole does not guarantee release, according to the West Covina Democrat.

If signed into law, the measure could help Nathan Gould become eligible for parole. He is one of the more than 5,000 California prisoners serving life without parole. Gould turned himself in for a murder he committed in Bakersfield in 1994. Since then, he joined self-help groups, rehabilitative programs and is on the way to earning his third associate’s degree.

• Gould: “It’s definitely giving me a light. There’s hope. I’d have a purpose now. I’d have a goal. There’s an ending.”

Jennifer Schaffer, who was an executive officer of the Board of Parole Hearings for 13 years, supports the bill. Though she acknowledges that parole hearings can retraumatize crime victims, giving people a chance to show that they have been rehabilitated is “important for humanity.”

• Schaffer: “Hope can be really powerful — and the absence of hope can be very dangerous.”

But critics of the bill remain unconvinced, including Senate GOP leader Brian Jones of San Diego, who spoke in opposition during a Senate floor vote in June.

• Jones: “The bill not only removes the finality of the sentences in our justice system, but it prioritizes the killer’s well being over that of the survivors of the victims.”

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.