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Parole board to set minimums for life-term prisoners (CA)
Parole board to set minimums for life-term prisonersBy Paige St. John
December 16, 2013
SACRAMENTO — State corrections officials agreed Monday to a major change in California's parole system that could lead to earlier releases for convicted killers and other inmates sentenced to a maximum of life in prison but who are still eligible for parole.
The settlement stems from a legal action filed by an inmate at the prison in Soledad, who was sentenced to 15 years to life for a 1987 murder and claimed that his application for parole was routinely and unjustifiably denied for 10 years.
"For decades, the Board of Parole Hearings has left these guys completely in the dark as to when they might ever have a chance of getting out," said Jon Streeter, the court-appointed attorney for the prisoner whose case prompted the unexpected settlement.
Under the settlement, approved Monday by state Court of Appeal Justice J. Anthony Kline in San Francisco, the state Board of Parole Hearings is required to establish the minimum time that should be served before an inmate is released.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-parole-20131217,0,2964882.story#axzz2nk0AFP7e