A question that has been raised more and more in my criminal defense law firm is the possibility of parole for inmates who have already been convicted of indeterminate sentences for either violent crimes of sex crimes.  The answer appears bleak: defendants convicted of violent offenses, or sex offenses, (or violent sex offenses) and who have indeterminate sentences, are simply not being released on parole in California.

A news story I came across today may prove to be the perfect example of the legal fiction of parole for indeterminate sentences in California.  California’s Governor Jerry Brown has been asked to make the final determination as to whether a former Charles Manson follower will be released on parole after more than a 40 year sentence.  Apparently, the Board of Parole submitted a favorable recommendation stating that this defendant is suitable for parole. Now, Governor Brown has up to 30 days to decide.  However, I remain skeptical as to whether this man will, in fact, be released on parole, despite the fact that he is 70 years old and hardly seems to pose a threat to anyone.  This defendant was 30 years old when he was sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence in prison in 1972.

Ironically, while the statistical success of violent offenders getting released on parole is miniscule, the statistical success of sex offenders with an indeterminate sentence being released on parole appears to be non-existent.  In part, this would be due to the fact that convicted sex offenders with indeterminate sentences will often be screened for civil commitment as a sexually violent predator (SVP) where, if successful, the state can hold these defendants pretty much indefinitely.

As a criminal defense attorney who spends a majority of her practice defending sex crimes cases, it is clear that the legal fiction of parole for certain types of indeterminate sentences needs to be revamped and modernized to be in accordance with the ethics of the times.   Even people convicted of serious sex offenses deserve a chance to be rehabilitated and to be productive societal members but only time will tell whether such populations will ever be given this chance.