[Women Prisoner News] Newsom grants commutations to 21, 7 people with LWOP

[News about women prisoners]

On Friday September 13, Governor Newsom granted commutations to 21 people
in California prisons including 7 people with Life Without Parole (LWOP)
sentences. Two of those people are in the women's prisons.  The
commutations occurred right before a groundbreaking strategy session to
#DROP LWOP was held in Los Angeles on Saturday and Sunday Sept 14-15.  The
convening, attended by over 125 people, developed concrete plans to advance
the fight for commutations for all 5,200 people serving LWOP in California
and develop legislation to end LWOP and all forms of extreme sentencing.  A
report on the convening will be coming out soon.

Article and Governor's office announcement are below.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/13/gov-newsom-commutes-sentences-for-21-inmates/

*By Don Thompson | Associated Press*

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced that he has
commuted the sentences of 21 prison inmates, most convicted of murder or
attempted murder and seven of whom had been serving life terms with no
chance of parole.

The freshman Democratic governor cited the youth of several of the
offenders when they committed their crimes. He also criticized what he
called the “disproportionately long sentencing enhancements” for some
felons, including 25-years-to-life enhancements for using a firearm.

The commutations do not free the inmates, but make them eligible for parole
hearings.

They differ from the pardons that Newsom previously granted to scrub the
records of offenders who had already completed their sentences. Several in
those earlier actions had been facing deportation based on the crimes for
which he issued the pardons.

Newsom in March put a moratorium on executions so long as he is governor,
but none of the offenders had been sentenced to death.

He noted in several of the commutations that the offender had been an
accomplice in a slaying but did not pull the trigger. California recently
enacted laws limiting the so-called felony murder rule, as well as laws
making sure youthful offenders are considered for parole.

His office could not say if those laws would have affected any of those
whose sentences he commuted.

Newsom’s predecessor, Jerry Brown, had criticized the numerous sentencing
enhancements allowed under California law, many adopted as get-tough
policies in the 1980s and 1990s. State lawmakers on Friday were on the
verge of sending him a bill ending a mandatory one-year enhancement for
repeat nonviolent felonies, though Newsom has not said if he will sign it.

The governor commuted the sentence of an 80-year-old woman, Doris Roldan,
who was serving a life-without-parole sentence from Los Angeles County for
working with two accomplices to kill her husband when she was 42 years old.

But he cited the youth of 16 offenders, several of whom were teenagers and
one of whom was convicted as minor.

Adonis Muldrow was 15 when he and a 26-year-old accomplice robbed four
businesses and the accomplice fatally shot a man during a carjacking. Both
men shot at a pursuing police officer, who was not seriously injured.
Newsom’s commutation makes him eligible for a parole suitability hearing in
about 2022.

Newsom’s office pointed to studies that the part of the brain responsible
for impulse control does not mature until well into adulthood, along with
offenders’ capacity for remorse and rehabilitation. He noted that the state
and federal Supreme Courts and California lawmakers have all found that
youthful offenders must have a meaningful opportunity for parole.
Two other inmates benefited from a program that trains and socializes dogs
rescued from animal shelters, some of who are prepared to help veterans
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

They include Marcus McJimpson, who was 21 in 1988 when he shot and killed
two men during an altercation. He was a founding member of the Paws for
Life dog training program, while Bryant Salas participated on the program.
Salas was 18 in 2007 when he participated in a gang-related fight during
which an accomplice stabbed two men, killing one.

The Paws For Life program says former governor Brown also recognized the
program, which it says has had the most commutations of life sentences of
any program in the state.





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Governor's Press Office

Friday, September 13, 2019

(916) 445-4571
Governor Newsom Grants Executive Clemency

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that he has granted 21
commutations.



The California Constitution gives the Governor the authority to grant
clemency, including in the form of a commutation. A clemency grant
recognizes a person’s efforts in self-development, rehabilitation and
prospects for successful community reentry. A clemency grant does not
forgive or minimize the harm caused by the crime.



People currently serving sentences in California prisons may apply for a
commutation.



The Governor regards this responsibility as an important part of the
criminal justice system that can incentivize accountability and
rehabilitation, increase the safety of the people working and serving
sentences in our jails and prisons, increase public safety by removing
counterproductive barriers to successful reentry and correct unjust results
in the legal system.



All of the commutation grants made today will allow the inmates to go
before the Board of Parole Hearings for a hearing at which the Parole
Commissioners assess whether the inmate is suitable for release from prison.



The Governor weighs numerous factors in his review of clemency
applications, including an applicant’s self-development and conduct since
the offense, whether the grant is consistent with public safety and in the
interests of justice and the impact of a grant on the community.



Copies of the gubernatorial clemency certificates granted today can be
found here
<http://cert1.mail-west.com/mjTywG/Tgtmyuzjanmc7r/j/j61/t83eo/u4b/unqv/2jTvoh>
.



Additional information on executive clemency can be found here
<http://cert1.mail-west.com/mc7rmnByaO/nBgtmyuzjan/j61/t83eo/u4b/unqv/3nBkhi>
.



###

*Governor Gavin Newsom*
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
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