California parole board is on receiving end of a grilling, for a change

[flashl]

The agency is beset by claims it too often denies freedom to deserving inmates, and wrangling over who should sit on the panel. The battle is largely between a Democratic leader and Schwarzenegger.

SACRAMENTO -- They are trained at putting tough questions to convicted murderers, but the state's powerful parole board commissioners have found themselves on the other side of the table lately, under interrogation in a political conflict that has cost some of them their jobs.

On one side of the dispute is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who routinely appoints former law enforcement officials to the Board of Parole Hearings, which decides whether to release the most serious criminals from prison. On the other is state Senate leader Don Perata, a Democrat from Oakland who believes commissioners deny parole to deserving inmates far too often.

Since January, Democratic senators led by Perata have rejected four of the eight commissioners they have grilled at confirmation hearings, ousting a third of the 12-member board and forcing Schwarzenegger to replace them. Members can serve a year after their appointment but must then receive the Senate's blessing to complete their three-year terms.

The upheaval has further disrupted an already problem-plagued board that has postponed thousands of parole hearings in recent years, potentially exposing the state to hefty fines from a Superior Court judge.

LA Times