ACTION ALERT - Protect Elder Parole; Assembly Bill

In the last couple weeks, we asked our supporters to help us in voicing opposition to Senate Bill 286, which would exclude people of first and second degree murder as well as those convicted of various sex offenses from California’s Elderly Parole program. Passing the bill would serve to decimate California’s Elderly Parole program, given that the majority of people serving life sentences who are eligible have murder convictions.

With today's action request, our focus turns to the California Assembly. We asks our supporters take urgent action to urge the Assembly Public Safety Committee to protect elder parole by OPPOSING Assembly Bill 47, the sister bill to SB 286, ahead of the committee vote on April 22nd.

AB 47 would exclude a large group of people with various sex offenses, including some misdemeanors, from California’s Elderly Parole program. AB 47 attacks a modest, yet necessary geriatric parole program in California that helps to limit the number of elderly, medically vulnerable people incarcerated. Because people with applicable sex offenses make up at least 25% of the current Elderly Parole eligible population, AB 47 will cost up to over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars over the next several years with no public safety benefit to back it up.

AB 47 is unnecessary for many reasons.

1. The Legislature thoroughly reassessed the program’s eligibility criteria in 2021 and determined it was unnecessary to public safety to create new exclusions. This is due to the exceptionally low risk posed by people currently eligible for the Elderly Parole program.
2.  While recidivism risk decreases with age, the cost of incarcerating older individuals rises significantly. For example, healthcare costs for elderly incarcerated people are up to nine times higher than for younger people. This amounts to an enormous financial burden in California, where it costs on average $133,000 annually to incarcerate a single person.
3. Multiple rigorous safeguards are already in place within the Elderly Parole program. Eligibility does not guarantee release; it merely allows the parole board to conduct a comprehensive hearing to determine if an individual can be safely released on parole supervision.

We hope you can use the AB 47 Opposition Toolkit for more information about this unnecessary and harmful bill and the steps you can take to voice your opposition to the Assembly Public Safety committee. Also, feel free to share widely among your networks so we can amplify the voices of those who seek fair and reasonable criminal justice reforms not fueled by disinformation and hate-mongering rhetoric.

Thank you, as always, for your continued advocacy and support of our shared goals and values.