The California District Attorneys’ Association is urging Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger to back off part of his budget proposal that
would commute the sentences of criminal aliens in state prisons,
and turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for
deportation.
The California District Attorneys’ Association is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to back off part of his budget proposal that would commute the sentences of criminal aliens in state prisons, and turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
CDAA sent a letter to the governor’s office Monday and to legislative leaders.
“We believe that all inmates, regardless of their immigration status, should be held to the same level of accountability for their conduct,” the letter stated. “If you were to exercise your constitutional power to commute the sentences of any portion of the inmate population, we urge you to do so only after there has been an assessment of the risk of each individual of re-offending.”
The letter went on to state that any prisoners whose sentence is commuted should be placed on parole for no less than three years.
“We cannot allow public safety to be compromised in a headlong rush to cut state costs,” wrote Candice Hooper, the San Benito County district attorney, in a press release. “There are alternatives available to the governor and legislative leaders that do not sacrifice our obligation to protect the safety of Californians.”
CDAA also spoke out against the proposal to charge offenses that can be either a felony or misdemeanor as straight misdemeanors.
The letter was signed by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, the outgoing president of CDAA, and incoming president Gary Lieberstein, the Napa County district attorney. It was endorsed by CDAA members, who include 57 elected district attorneys; 12 prosecuting city attorneys and 2,600 other attorneys statewide.
