License and Registration Please Sir
As you may know, a bill was introduced in our state legislature early this week that would allow for the EARLY RELEASE of prisoners in our golden state.Now, the last time I checked, it is the responsibility of EVERY elected official to insure the protection of citizens. The state is no exception.
Nearly a month ago during the budget process, our lawmakers approved a $24 billion package that would address the state's budget crisis. In that package was legislation that accounted for a $1.2 billion cut in corrections spending. At that time, no one said HOW they would make the cuts. It certainly is clear now how they intend to make those cuts isn't it?
This bill proposes forming a Sentencing Commission, which would be authorized to permanently lower the criminal sentences (ie: assign house arrest instead of jail time) for the following crimes:
- Gross vehicle manslaughter while intoxicated
- Kidnapping
- Kidnapping in the commission of carjacking
- Assault with the intent to commit rape or other sex crimes
- Human trafficking
- Sexual battery
- Assault with deadly weapons
- Rape in concert
- Pimping a minor
- Aggravated sex crimes on a children
- Felony child abuse
- Child abuse resulting in death
- Female genital mutilation child abuse
- Domestic violence
- Forcible sodomy
- Lewd and lascivious acts on a child
- Child pornography
- Elder abuse
- Burglary
- Identity theft
- Attempted murder
- Crimes against children under 14 and the developmentally disabled
- Rape by people who know they have AIDS
- Infliction of injury on a pregnant woman (with the intent to do so)
- Aggravated arson
It must still pass the assembly. According to Assembyman Jeffries, Speaker Karen Bass, who supports the bill, could not get enough votes to get it passed so they will most likely try again Monday.
I can tell you with relative assurance that LE's two assemblymen, Jeffries and Nestande, will also vote against it. However, letting them know how you feel doesn't hurt. They actually like hearing from people.
This will have an effect on everyone's community, and certainly Lake Elsinore's.
You can email them by going to my home page and clicking on:Or, copy and paste the link below into your web browser.
Speaker Karen Bass's Information:
- phone number - (916) 319-2047
- email - Assemblymember.Bass@assembly.ca.gov
posted by Melissa Melendez at
1:11 AM
29 Comments:
That's actually funny considering Bass represents Culver City, West Los Angeles, Westwood, Cheviot Hills, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, the Crenshaw District, Little Ethiopia and portions of Korea Town and South Los Angeles. If anyone should be worried about the early release of criminals it should be her!!
"In the end, we as a society will be judged on how we treat our people" This is a direct quote from this nut's (Bass) website. That's right, how we judge our people is significant. And if a court passes judgement and says you must go to jail, who is she to say otherwise?
I know, let's make it a law that the criminals who are released early are released directly into the cities of the members who vote to pass the bill. That sounds fair to me!
Wait, it gets better. They apparently have the Sentencing Commission Panel members already selected, and one of the members is none other than a convicted felon. Yes, a convicted felon, who will get to decide on lessening the sentence for other criminals. A perfect system wouldn't you say?
So here's an idea, as soon as the prisoners get released, work to get some of these people in Sacramento recalled. This is so unfair when the common person can't do anything to stop this.
I need to make a correction, the sentencing panel has not yet been selected, they have just made "suggestions". Not sure who makes the final decision as to who is on the panel.
And so all of the illegals that are in our state prisons are just going to go free. Gee, what a great idea. Those people in Sacramento really have no idea what they're doing, it's official now.
Here is some info printed in the LA Times, and they wonder why the State is broke:
40% of all workers are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because so cal is predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card.
95% of warrants for murder in LA are for illegal aliens.
Over 2/3 of all births in LA are illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
Nearly 35% of all inmates in California Detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
The FBI reports that half of all gang members are illegal aliens from south of the border.
Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
If the officials would empty out the illegals from our prisons and deport them there would be no need to let others go. If the local city governments would sweep their cities of illegals there would be no need to over crowd our prisons with illegals, it needs to start in local cities, once these illegals are deported they won't be here to use up our HUD housing, our hospitals and so on, nor will they be here to commit crimes that tie up our courts, spend tax payers money. START DEPORTING IN YOUR TOWN, it is a trickle down effect, stop it before it starts!!!
Why does everyone always look for the Government to create laws and figure our ways out of things when all it takes is a bit of common sense, and local city officials to take responsibility for their own towns.
FYI, this item did not go up for a vote today (Monday).
So Melissa, if these criminals are released back into our neighborhoods, can't our police just make increased "routine" visits by their house to make sure they are following the law? Or can't our neighborhoods stand up and fight just like we would if child predator were to move in?
To Elisa - Remember who you will be fighting against, the very same people who want to release these criminals into your neighborhood. That is not to say that you should not make your voice heard, you should, and often. But the biggest voice comes in the form of a vote. That gets your message across loud and clear.
I don't know if you're from Lake Elsinore, or perhaps another town, but I will update how the vote goes down with respect to the officials elected to represent Lake Elsinore.
The police don't want added crime any more than you or I do, so their vigilance shouldn't even be in question. They want to protect us, they've dedicated their lives to it, and they will.
My husband is a cop, trust me, they watch closely.
LE PD and the Sheriffs department seem to have a grip on LE, with all the people on parole here there doesn't seem to be much crime here, that is if we can trust that the crimes committed are actually reported. I had a girlfriend years back on the dispatch of LE PD and she said that there was a murder committed in this town everyday but unreported, I don't think that's the case here anymore, our police really do have a zero tolerance attitude and I think that they will keep LE safe. I do agree with Steve though, the illegals need to go, we are just asking for trouble in our neighborhoods. On the matter of releasing prisoners, again we are always at the mercy of what Government decides to do, we the people need to look out for ourselves in these times.
It seems crazy to me that illegals are allowed to congregate so close to our own city hall. Don't our city officials see them? Probably not since they haven't done anything about it. Get rid of the illegals and half of our problems will go away.
The problem is immigration laws are enforceable by federal government, not local police. Can they arrest someone here illegally? Yes, if they are committing a crime under which the local police have jurisdiction. (yes, I know being here illegally is a crime, and I know how ridiculous it sounds)
If a person is arrested and taken to jail, and is found to be here illegally, then they are turned over to an ICE agent.
Local police have the power to detain and arrest for federal criminal violations, however, these arrests have been subject to many reversals and changes in policy due to court decisions and federal policy over the years. In other words, those in elected positions, and appointed (ie:judges), have taken it upon themselves to interpret the law in the manner they see fit.
This is high level politics hard at work. The control that we would all like to have locally, to "tend to our own knitting" as my grandmother used to say, has been taken from all cities.
Yet another really good reason to pay close attention to who you vote for at a federal and state level. They are making the rules by which you must live.
Well I think it is disgusting that no one, especially the feds, do anything about the illegals that walk and stand all over Main Street.
I'm sorry but I think that is a cop out, no pun intended. It was just a few months back that Mr. Hickman himself called in ICE to round up the illegals because they were told to get off Main St. and refused to go so he called and they came. All the City has to do is make a phone call just as Hickman did before. The City chooses to turn a back to this and puts every tax payer in this cities safety at risk. Yes it is true that the police want nothing to do with immigration issues unless there is a crime committed and then they enforce the law, but the illegals in our town know that the City does nothing about them being here and that immigration only comes when they are called by City officials, that is why they ALL LIVE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! You don't see this kind of nonsense going on in Cities around us, because they will not tolerate it!! If immigration is not called then they do not know that there is a problem in the town.
I think the city should host a Saturday morning protest to get those illegals off the street....
Melissa I understand what you are saying, and it seems you're as frustrated as the rest of us, even if you feel there's not a lot you can do about it. Please talk to the PD and see if more can be done for the sake of our town. There must be something they can do. And thank you for being so open and willing to listen. When you become a senator, don't forget where you came from!
Steve, will all due respect, at least she is putting herself out there and is trying to be honest with you. We're all frustrated but I don't think implying that Hickman is the only one who cares is accurate. I don't see him putting himself out there on a blogsite. And what roundup are you talking about? I don't recall any roundup a few months ago, and that usually gets alot of media attention.
Steve, the roundup Hichman took credit for was a routine sweep. he had nothing to do with it. The feds stopped after they got so much attention and all of our little bleeding hearts in So Cal ambushed our leaders at the federal level. Don't fool yourself, Hichman didn't care.
I am not attacking Melissa for anything that she does, quite the contrary I admire the fact that she has set up this blog and has been open minded and allowed us to speak our minds and also provide us with information that other wise we would not be aware of.
As for the illegals that were gathered up it, could of been last year, time goes by so fast for me. It was reported in the newspaper with a story, after the immigration officals came to town there were a few that actually held a protest on Main St. regarding this matter and how unfair it was to the illegals. The article also stated that immigration went as far as to go into the mexican market and ask the patrons shopping there for their green card. Also stated in the article is that LE is not on the Temecula jurisdiction for patrol of our town for illegals, the only way that they can come here is if a city official calls them. Look up the archive of the article, either the PE or the Californian.
As far as giving Hickman any kind of praise, that was not my intention, it was stated in the newspaper article that he was the one that made the call.
Thanks for clearing things up Steve.... and you are right, Melissa deserves credit for this bold step. I think many now see she is one of the few who actually listens. Not quite sure how we made the leap from released prisoners to illegals on Main Street, so I apologize for getting off point. Anyway, let's hope the state doesn't do what they say they will do.
If only my children could have such polite discourse as you all have, my house would be a much more peaceful place!
The sweep that Steve is referring to I believe was last year about this time. I also remember the article in the paper, and the protests, which could be the topic of a whole other blog.
Honestly, if it were as easy as just dialing ICE to have them show up I think we would have sweeps every day once the number got out. I don't think it's that simple.
I will, however, do some investigating on the policies and procedures with respect to ICE. And I did have a lengthy discussion with our police chief about this issue just a few days ago.
Now James made the point that I was going to make, which is that we have strayed away from the focus of this post, and that is how Sacramento plans to place their financial crisis in our laps.
A panel of three federal judges said "your prisons are too crowded, you have to release to level that we desire". The state feels these judges are overstepping their constitutional authority (feds vs states rights) and the state will likely appeal all the way to the US supreme court.
Unfortunately, there are those in our legislature who have always wanted to reduce sentences, and this provides a great opportunity for them to do so - which is why they introduced the legislation so quickly and WITHOUT ANY PUBLIC HEARINGS.
There is still time to let them know in Sacramento how you feel. Don't assume someone else will do it for you, and remember there is strength in numbers.
Why don't the police get creative, I'm sure they can find something wrong enough to stop and ask for ID. Better yet, take away the porta potties and when they take a leak on the street arrest them for that.
Getting back to the original matter of this post and the releasing of prisoners, does tie in to the illegals since most of the jails and prisoners are illegals that they want to release according to worthy news channels such as KFI, Fox and CNN. This goes back to the fact that if there are no illegals in the town then the crimes will not be committed by them. I do believe that an earlier post stated the percentages of illegals in the prisons in SO Cal.
Right, so now we have to wonder if they do release them early, will they use discretion and make sure illegals are sent back to their country of origin? Or will they release them, clear their books, and wipe their hands of the matter?
I would say that since SO Cal's main population is that of Hispanics or Latinos as they prefer to be called now, I feel that they will not take the time to deport them but release them back onto society. From what I understand and have read is the deportation is a huge process and can take up to 6 months to actually return illegals to there countries of origin, they are first housed in a facility while paper work is processed and the illegals are given the option to fight the deportation in court. Not sure why they have this right. The right thing to do should be to deport them, which is what should of happened when they were arrested to begin with. Illegals are a great burden on taxpayers, court systems and society that is out of control. I agree with Steve, it should be stopped locally in cities before the crime is committed to avoid all of the waste of taxpayers money, and yes Melissa I think you're right that the could release them, clear their books and wipe their hands of the matter.
I have absolutely no idea why someone who is illegally in our country is afforded the same rights as a U.S. citizen, I really don't. Our judicial system is laughable to other countries, we are incedibly soft.
Of course, some of these other countries laughing at us will also chop off your hand, murder your family, or throw you in jail and let you rot to death from disease for crimes much less egregious than what you would think warrants that type of punishment.
Surely there is a happy medium, but we haven't reached it.
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