LOS ANGELES—Law enforcement officials and city leaders met on Thursday, Oct. 20 to denounce a November ballot measure designed to allow “nonviolent” criminals early access to parole, saying not all of those criminals would actually be nonviolent, putting communities in increased danger.
“What we’re seeing here is an opportunity for people who have committed terrible, terrible crimes to be eligible to be released back into our communities without any support for them, without any rehabilitation,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell of Proposition 57, along with District Attorney Jackie Lacey and others.
Some of the crimes that law enforcement officials say would fall under the “nonviolent” category according to the California penal code include rape of an unconscious person, human trafficking, drive-by shooting, assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence with injury, arson, and attempting to explode a bomb at a hospital or school.
California state law categorizes 23 crimes as “violent,” including murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping.
According to the website Ballotpedia’s Verbatim fact check, “State law treats many seemingly violent crimes as ‘nonviolent.’ Therefore, unless amended, Proposition 57, if approved, could provide early release to inmates whose crimes are not designated as ‘violent’ under state law but whose criminality involved actions that would commonly be regarded as violent.”
