CA Board of Parole Hearings Report - Paroled Lifers Pose Minimal Threat to Public Safety

Despite having situated itself in mainstream political discussion as a progressive state, California remains among one of the troubling epicenters of mass incarceration in the United States. California alone incarcerates more than any other democratic country on earth. Even though its prison population has declined since its peak in the mid-2000s, California still incarcerates almost 100,000 people per year. Parole is one potential avenue for decarceration, but California’s parole system has proved to be remarkably ineffective.

Rather than using evidence-based, data-driven decision-making, political messaging largely based in misinformation and fear-driven rhetoric, elected officials, and media outlets have shaped the criminal legal system throughout the United States; California is no exception. Unfortunately, direct democracy is responsible for many of the most punitive aspects of California’s criminal law because California’s ballot initiative process has politicized its parole system and further restricted incarcerated individuals’ opportunities for release.

The California Board of Parole Hearings recently released their 2024 report, and within the report contains data that strikes at the heart of dysfunction of the state's parole process. Out of thousands of persons released from California's prisons who were serving life sentences, less than 0.5% were convicted of a new violent felony within three years, and at 2-4% for general recidivism (the tendency of an individual, after being released from custody or completing a rehabilitation program, to reoffend, regardless of the specific type of crime they committed previously).

Despite these extremely low recidivism rates, why are California parole rates plummeting?

Some more facts found in the report:

1. Parole hearing volume decreased, with 7,999 scheduled hearings (down 3.42% from 2023) and a significant drop in parole grants to 1,150 (down 20% from 2023).
2. The overall parole grant rate decreased to 31% of hearings held (down from 35% in 2023).
3. Grant rates varied by population:

• 43% for persons in women's institutions (unchanged from 2023)
• 30% for persons in men's institutions (down from 35% in 2023)
• 30% for youth offender eligible persons (down from 38% in 2023)
• 32% for elderly parole eligible persons (unchanged from 2023)

1. Recidivism rates for those released from life sentences remain remarkably low:

• Only 2.5% of persons released between fiscal years 2011-12 and 2019-20 were convicted of a new crime within three years
• Less than 0.5% were convicted of a new felony against a person within three years

1. Voluntary waivers increased to 1,956 (up 7% from 2023), representing 24% of scheduled hearings (up from 22% in 2023).
2. Administrative reviews to advance hearing dates approved 946 cases (53% of reviewed cases), though this was down from 67% approval in 2023.

If recidivism rates are extremely low, but parole rates don't reflect that and are, in fact, decreasing, what exactly is driving California's parole policy?

You can read the full report from the Board of Parole Hearings here --->>> 2024 Report of Significant Events