Last week, the Sacramento Bee reported that one of the men arrested in Sacramento’s gang-related mass shooting (that left six people dead) had a lengthy criminal record and was released early. The Bee reported that the California Parole Board released him after just four years, despite being sentenced to ten years for domestic violence and assault after Smiley Martin had punched his girlfriend, dragged her from her home by her hair, and then whipped her with a belt.
Which, the AP reports, are considered “nonviolent” offenses in California.
Only in California would beating a woman with a belt and dragging from her home by her hair be considered “nonviolent.” Ok, that’s public policy debacle Number One.
Public policy debacle Number Two is how Martin actually exited prison early. It turned out that the Bee was wrong; he wasn’t released by the Parole Board. He was instead released early thanks to relaxed rules created by Proposition 57 and a pro-inmate regulatory rule change by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The CDCR is a state agency led by a person appointed by Gov. Newsom. You may recall that CDCR changed the rules in 2020 and 2021 to let prisoners out early based on pandemic concerns. In August 2020, for example, the LA Times ran a headline: “Amid COVID-19, California Releases Some Inmates Doing Time For Murder. Advocates Push To Free More.
Under Proposition 57, CDCR was given a lot of discretion to increase “credits” that inmates can collect to reduce their time in prison. CDCR imposed rules allowing a person with a 10-year sentence to serve only 3 years and 4 months (more on that at the end of this post). So, because that state government treated Martin’s beating of his girlfriend as “nonviolent,” and because CDCR increased his credits, Martin served four years of a ten-year sentence. Within weeks of his release, he was arrested last week on suspicion of possession of a machine gun.
So, let me leave you with an action item. CDCR is looking to make these new rules permanent. But to do so, they have to take public comments until April 13. Let them hear from us!
Any person may submit written comments about the proposed regulations by e-mail to [email protected]. Reference rule number NCR 22-03.
Will O’Neill is a member of the Newport Beach City Council.
