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In California, incarcerated people who are 50 years and older and who have served at least 20 years of their sentence are eligible for California's Elderly Parole Program. There are a few exceptions, but sexual offenses are not one of those exceptions.
Senator Roger Niello (R–Fair Oaks) presented Senate Bill 1278 in the Senate Public Safety Committee today to exclude criminals convicted of rape, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts, and sex offenses from being eligible for elderly parole. His effort to protect victims from reliving their worst nightmare by keeping sexual offenders behind bars did not advance out of the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Niello expressed his disappointment after the vote when he said, “I am incredibly disheartened that my bill to provide victims protection and keep sex offenders in prison and serving their sentence did not receive the votes needed to pass the Senate Public Safety Committee.” He continued, “What makes this even more difficult is that this week is the annual observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. I would ask the legislators who stopped this elderly parole reform bill from moving forward to reflect on whether uplifting survivors and honoring victims is ever their priority.”
Established in 1981 by presidential proclamation, this annual observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week emerged from the victims’ rights movement to ensure that individuals who are affected by crime are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion within the justice system.