Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
Governor Gavin Newsom recently decided to commute 21 prison sentences as well as pardon five people. Shockingly, 14 of the people whose sentences were commuted were convicted for murder or related charges, with two of them involving children.
One of the prisoners was Joann Parks of Los Angeles County, a woman who set fire to her home, killing three of her children.
Another prisoner who had his sentence commuted was Rodney McNeal of San Bernardino County, who stabbed his pregnant wife to death.
Yet another was Suzanne Johnson of San Diego County, who assaulted a child, resulting in her death.
In addition to these three:
Kristopher Blehm of Santa Barbara County, who has served less than 12 years for helping murder his crime partner’s romantic rival.
Steven Bradley of Kern County, who killed a gas station attendant during a robbery.
Jason Bryant of Shasta County, who committed several armed robberies in which one victim was fatally shot by an accomplice.
Rosemary Dyer of Los Angeles County, who fatally shot her husband.
Samuel Eldredge of Humboldt County, who fatally shot his crime partner’s housemate.
Richard Flowers of Tulare County, who killed a woman during a robbery.
Robert Glass of Los Angeles County, who committed murder during a burglary.
James Harris of Los Angeles County, who engaged in a drug sales-related kidnapping and murdered two people.
David Jassy of Los Angeles County, who has served 11 years for killing a man during an altercation.
Shyrl Lamar of Sacramento County, who participated in a robbery in which her crime partner fatally stabbed two victims.
Ramon Rodriguez of Los Angeles County, who was paid to commit murder.
These are the 14 violent criminals that Newsom believes are suitable to return to society.
Mayors or governors threatening jail time for violations of stay-at-home orders while they let criminals out of jail because of Wuhan coronavirus is a…joke
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 31, 2020
While reports have been mixed regarding whether the coronavirus outbreak was the reason for the action, it appears that the clemency requests were being considered before the pandemic.
If you are going to start releasing prisoners or commuting their sentences, shouldn’t they be the ones that pose the least threat to society? Criminal justice reform advocates preach endlessly about the thousands of non-violent drug offenders that populate our prisons. Shouldn’t they be let out instead, if this is the route we’re going to go?
Governor Newsom certainly doesn’t think so.
