Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
CURB celebrates each release that Governor Gavin Newsom has used his executive authority to grant in the face of COVID-19. In states like New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has not expressed half of the urgency to protect public health as Newsom has in California. Although, with over 122,000 people incarcerated in the California Department of Corrections (CDCR), 3,500 expedited parole dates does not impact the prison population nearly enough to slow the spread of the COVID-19.
There are positive cases of the virus at 10 of the 35 prisons in CA, currently affecting 25 staff and four prisoners. If Governor Newsom’s intent is to take “extraordinary and unprecedented protective measures” to slow the spread of the virus and protect those who live and work within California’s 35 prisons, he must not continue to exclude people who are convicted of violent offenses. Tens of thousands of people are serving decades under the 3-Strikes Law, over 5,000 people are serving a Life Without the Possibility of Parole (LWOP) sentence and over 30 thousand people are 50 years of age and older in CDCR. Granting commutations for thousands of elders and medically vulnerable people, including those serving an LWOP or other life sentences would be extraordinary, unprecedented and a lifesaving move, protecting the health of people across California.
