Brown allows parole for murderers at greater rate

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown is allowing murderers to be paroled from California prisons at a far greater pace than his immediate predecessors, a development that raised alarm Wednesday with victims' rights groups.

After a little more than one year in office, the Democratic governor has allowed about 80 percent of the decisions by the state Board of Parole Hearings to free convicted killers.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, allowed about a quarter of the recommended paroles to stand, while former Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, allowed just 2 percent.

Evan Westrup, a spokesman for the governor's office, noted the courts often reversed those earlier governors' decisions.

Last year alone, judges reversed nearly three-quarters of the 144 Schwarzenegger parole denials they considered, meaning those criminals will be released despite the former governor's attempt to keep them behind bars, Westrup said.

Crime Victims Action Alliance, a Sacramento-based group that assists victims and lobbies for their rights, said Brown's decisions put 331 murderers back on the street.

"It's a huge jump," said Christine Ward, the group's executive director. "We're talking about some of the most dangerous criminals that were put in prison for a very long time for a very good reason. That number is just very concerning to us."

The group's concern was prompted by a report on parole decisions the governor's office sent Tuesday to the state Legislature. The report is required each year.

The governor considers public safety, the opinions of law enforcement experts on the parole board, and recent legal rulings in making his decisions, said Westrup.

He said the state's ongoing budget deficit and a federal court order to reduce the inmate population by 33,000 by June 2013 do not enter the equation, noting that the freed murderers are a tiny fraction of the state's 144,000 inmates.

"The governor has a duty to respect the law but also to uphold public safety," Westrup said. "We think he's struck a balance with these decisions."

In a pair of rulings in 2008, the state Supreme Court held that governors who want to block paroles must show some evidence that a criminal serving a life prison term remains a danger to society and should not be released. It's not enough to consider only the nature of the original crime in making that decision, the court ruled.