Umberg Measure Targets Parole Violators

With voters voicing a chorus of frustration over the state’s parole system, Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) introduced legislation Tuesday that would dramatically toughen penalties for parolees who violate the terms of their parole.

Under existing law, parolees can be returned to prison for a maximum of one year if they are caught violating terms of their parole.

Umberg’s bill would lengthen the minimum to at least two years. The measure would also give a judge the discretion to return a felon to prison to serve out the remainder of a sentence if he or she had been released early for good behavior or “work time.” In some cases, that could mean a parolee going back for a decade or more in prison.

The bill was a response to recommendations made in a recently released report on prison operations by the Little Hoover Commission, a state panel that investigates a wide range of issues. The study determined that the state’s existing parole system is being abused by career criminals who have little fear of reprisal if they violate the terms of parole set down when they are released from prison.

An Assembly committee chaired by Umberg that is studying prison operations determined in a recent hearing that the value of parole is dubious, citing slayings and other violent crimes committed by parolees who should have been in prison because of parole violations.