Democrats in the State Senate today passed SB 672 authored by Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) that would expand parole opportunity to those convicted of murder with specified “special circumstances” if they committed their crime between the ages of 18 and 26. Republicans unanimously opposed the bill. Last week they placed the anti-public safety bill on their “Bad Bill List” and released their internal analysis of it publicly.
“This bill isn’t about second chances for petty offenders. It grants opportunity for release to some of the most violent criminals,” said Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta), Senate Republican Caucus Chair and Vice Chair of the Public Safety Committee. “These individuals were sentenced to life without parole for crimes so extreme that the justice system deemed them beyond rehabilitation. Instead of weakening our justice system, we should be focusing on strengthening public safety and protecting Californians.”
This bill would open the door to parole to an estimated 1,600 vicious killers, as Leader Jones highlighted in an op-ed published in all Southern California News Group outlets today. This includes those who killed based on religion or race, those who have previous murder convictions, mass killers, bombers, drive-by shooters, gang-bangers, those who lie in wait, those who kill to evade arrest or escape from custody, and those who kill an on-duty firefighter, witness to a crime, prosecutor, judge, juror or an elected official.
“California Democrats just opened the prison gates for over 1,600 cold-blooded killers," stated Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego). “Democrat lawmakers have proven time and time again they don’t care about the victim or their family. They don’t care about keeping the public safe. They care about defending killers.
A recent example of someone who will become eligible for parole under SB 672: Sam Woodward, 20 years old when he brutally murdered Blaze Bernstein in Orange County in 2018. Woodward was a member of an extremist neo-Nazi terrorist group. He targeted a former schoolmate who was openly Jewish and gay, lured him to a local park, stabbed him 28 times then buried his body. In 2024, found guilty of first-degree murder in a hate crime, Woodward was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“The people who committed these depraved crimes have earned their sentence. It is simply wrong for Democrat legislators to think they know better than the judges and juries who heard these cases,” said Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil (R-Jackson). “We’re not talking about children who committed a ‘youthful indiscretion;’ these are adults who committed planned murders with special circumstances. We say kill this bill, not free these killers.”
Crime Victims United opposes SB 672. In a letter to Sen. Rubio, they said, “SB 672 threatens public safety and ignores the rights of crime victims and their families, as well as the efforts of local law enforcement, district attorneys, jurors, and the legal processes and resources that resulted in their conviction and sentence.”
SB 672 now moves to the Assembly for its consideration.