In light of the tragic death of Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco Jr., a northern California Republican is seeking transparency in the state’s inmate credit system.
Asm. Joe Patterson (R–Rocklin) introduced Assembly Bill 1260 to bring the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s credit system into the public eye.
The backstory: Carrasco Jr. was killed on Jan. 31 while on patrol. Nathaniel Dixon, 23, was arrested and charged with murdering the 24-year-old Carrasco.
- Dixon, a convicted felon, had been sentenced to over five years in prison for gun and drug charges but was released just months into his sentence because of time credits he accumulated under California law.
- Inmates can earn credits under Proposition 57, which was passed by voters in 2016.
The big picture: Patterson’s bill centers on the allegation that the Department of Rehabilitation is releasing inmates early without notifying local district attorneys.
- AB 1260 will require advanced notification to local district attorneys of the credit calculations, and it will require the notification to include the length of the sentence imposed by the court, the amount of time that was changed by credits and the percentage of the length of the served sentence.
What they’re saying: Patterson said that while he supports proven rehabilitation programs, the reality is that inmates are being secretly released.
- “Our local District Attorneys are seeing criminals, denied parole, released back into communities to repeat offend, without notification to the District Attorney or victim,” Patterson said. “This cannot continue unchecked.”
