CA lawmakers to consider change to life without parole

For California prisoners who committed crimes when they were young and received life sentences without parole, few opportunities exist to get a second chance. The possibility of a parole review is slim, while the likelihood of dying behind bars is all but guaranteed.

But one bill — which the Legislature is holding for consideration until 2026 — could change that if passed.

As CalMatters’ Joe Garcia explains, state Sen. Susan Rubio’s bill would open parole eligibility for some prisoners serving life sentences without parole for crimes they committed when they were 25 or younger. The individual would have had to have served at least 25 years of their sentence already, and eligibility for parole does not guarantee release, according to the West Covina Democrat.

If signed into law, the measure could help Nathan Gould become eligible for parole. He is one of the more than 5,000 California prisoners serving life without parole. Gould turned himself in for a murder he committed in Bakersfield in 1994. Since then, he joined self-help groups, rehabilitative programs and is on the way to earning his third associate’s degree.

• Gould: “It’s definitely giving me a light. There’s hope. I’d have a purpose now. I’d have a goal. There’s an ending.”

Jennifer Schaffer, who was an executive officer of the Board of Parole Hearings for 13 years, supports the bill. Though she acknowledges that parole hearings can retraumatize crime victims, giving people a chance to show that they have been rehabilitated is “important for humanity.”

• Schaffer: “Hope can be really powerful — and the absence of hope can be very dangerous.”

But critics of the bill remain unconvinced, including Senate GOP leader Brian Jones of San Diego, who spoke in opposition during a Senate floor vote in June.

• Jones: “The bill not only removes the finality of the sentences in our justice system, but it prioritizes the killer’s well being over that of the survivors of the victims.”

Read more here.

Two updates on lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration:

• Planned Parenthood: California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Tuesday that the state is suing the administration over its policy to ban Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving federal Medicaid payments. California’s 114 Planned Parenthood clinics stand to lose about $300 million from the new rule, and five clinics in the state have already closed. The lawsuit is ongoing as the federal judge who issued a preliminary order last week restoring federal funding for some clinics expanded their decision Monday to shield all Planned Parenthood clinics from defunding. Read more from CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang.

• Sensitive SNAP data: Arguing that the federal administration is targeting immigrant communities, California is joining 18 other states to sue the administration over its requirement that states hand over sensitive information about recipients of federal food vouchers. If states don’t provide the info by today, they risk losing federal funding to administer the food stamp program, known as CalFresh in California. The state receives $1.3 billion a year in federal funding to operate CalFresh. About 5 million California residents, or 13% of the population, rely on the aid. Read more from CalMatters’ Wendy Fry and Mikhail Zinshteyn.

State legislators are considering a bill that would make California the first in the nation to ban one of the most popular handguns, writes CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow.

The measure would prohibit the sale of new Glock-brand handguns. These semi-automatic handguns can become fully automatic guns — which are already illegal under state and federal laws except for special permit holders — if you unlawfully insert a converter into the gun. These converters can be created illegally using a 3D printer.

Proponents of the bill say that it targets a narrow type of gun, which is becoming more popular in violent crimes. California and more than two dozen other states already ban the converters, but no state has yet to ban the gun.

Gun rights advocates argue that the bill would set a precedent for more restrictions on semi-automatic handguns. More than 1 million Glocks are in circulation in California, and only a small fraction, advocates say, have been illegally modified.

Read more here.

Nationwide, the current sluggish housing market has been marked by stagnant sales, stalled interest rates and a drop in new listings. But this rut has been particularly acute in California. Find out why from CalMatters’ Ben Christopher.