Sacramento sheriff's officials say it took less than one day for an inmate who was set free Monday under an early-release plan to be arrested again, this time on a charge of attempted rape, reports the Sacramento Bee. The incident prompted outrage from groups opposed to the new state law aimed at reducing prison populations by releasing nonviolent, low-level offenders who earn extra credits for participating in educational and other programs.
"Our greatest fear has occurred almost immediately after the early release of these inmates," said Christine Ward of the Crime Victims Action Alliance. The arrest of Kevin Peterson less than a day after he was cut loose from the Sacramento County jail raised questions over whether counties releasing jail inmates are interpreting the law correctly. Counties say the new law allows them to apply good-time credits to inmates retroactively, which led to the release of Peterson 16 days early Monday.
Posted by Concerned Taxpayer
Tuesday, March 02, 2010 08:49
CVU is funded and fronted by the CCPOA, the California Prison Guard Labor Union. The mission of both organizations is to increase incarceration not safety. IF Kevin Peterson’s did it, serving his last 16 days in county jail would not have changed him. No state prisoners have been released. Most early release credits are contingent on completing educational programs after Jan 15 of 2010. Most were eliminated to save money. The CCPOA is bleeding the taxpayers for union dues not making them safer.
Posted by Aimee
Thursday, February 11, 2010 06:11
Sorry but just because an inmate was released (16) Days early and got into trouble, does not mean that it is a mistake to release inmates early. Any true criminal is going to continue to go back n forth in the justice system regardless, besides you can not judge ALL INMATES by the action of one or even a few, especially when there are thousands. My husband was sentenced to 5yrs for Recieving Stolen Property, Not murder,rape, drugs,etc…. Either way he gets classified as being some violent criminal just because people tend to just Hear what they want without knowing all the real info, Like the word INMATE!!!! That word alone is what is causing most of the uproar over inmate releases. Sorry but letting an inmate out a couple months early is not going ruin california or the safety of our families, it is the TYPE of inmates that they choose to release early that is going to cause problems.