El Dorado County DA and 40 other elected district attorneys challenge release of 76,000 inmates

After the decision to increase good behavior credits for those in California prisons on April 30, 2021, a group of 41 elected district attorneys across the state have filed a petition to cancel the temporary emergency regulations that affect more than 76,000 inmates.

Officials said the adjustment of how inmates earn good behavior credits while in prison would create safer prisons and reduce the inmate population. Of the estimated 76,000, about 63,000 have been convicted of violent crimes and 20,000 serving life sentences with the possibility of parole. Current good behavior credits shorten sentences by one-fifth, and the change would reduce them by one-third.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson announced Thursday that he and 40 elected district attorneys across California have filed a petition with the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to protest the change. Pierson, the DA of El Dorado County since 2006, is currently the president of the California District Attorneys Association.

"In adopting these regulations, and claiming an emergency, the CDCR Secretary stated these regulations were necessary to comply with 'the direction outlined in the Governor’s Budget Summary' presented a year ago on May 14, 2020. By invoking an emergency, the traditional regulatory scheme and transparent public comment period were bypassed," said Pierson in a press release.

"Victims, their families, and all Californians deserve a fair and honest debate about the wisdom of such drastic regulations," said Pierson.

“The new CDCR regulations could shorten the sentences for the most dangerous criminals as much as 50 percent," Pierson added in his press release. "This drastic reduction not only creates a serious public safety risk but violates victims’ rights under Marsy’s Law."