Increased Early Jail Releases Studied

Under scrutiny for disparate treatment of inmates eligible for early release from jail, leaders of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are debating a wholesale revision of the program, including one plan that would grant early releases to violent offenders and those convicted of sex crimes.

Since 2002, the department has released more than 150,000 inmates early, many after serving less than 10% of their sentences. But it has required those convicted of manslaughter, child abuse and sex crimes to serve all of their time.

The department is now considering allowing all inmates to be released after serving 25% of their jail time. The discussions are preliminary and a decision would probably not be reached before next week, Assistant Sheriff Paul Tanaka said.

“I’ve heard a variety of numbers,” he said. “What I told the custody division is we’re not going to come up with a number until they convince me we can actually do that.”

A move to hold all inmates for the same percentage of time would address concerns by Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who questioned whether the sheriff should have the authority to choose which inmates to release early. Cooley had said he was troubled that the department had made exceptions in its early release program. Among them, Sheriff Lee Baca required those convicted of prostitution in Compton to serve full sentences, while those convicted in other cities were released after serving 10% of their time.

“While the sheriff’s policies are within a constitutionally accepted range, there have been lots of concerns that it just wasn’t fair,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Lael Rubin, head of the district attorney’s appellate division. “The hope has been that a more fair and equitable policy could be implemented and ultimately there will be a time inmates do their full sentences.”

Faced with a series of significant budget cuts, Baca decided in 2002 to greatly reduce the amount of time most inmates served. Even though the department held certain violent offenders longer, many inmates released early were accused of committing new crimes during the time they would have been in custody, according to a Times investigation. Among those cases were 16 accused of murder, 518 charged with robbery and 215 charged with sex offenses.

After The Times published its findings, the Sheriff’s Department vowed to begin looking into inmates’ criminal backgrounds before deciding whether to grant them early releases. Those with past convictions for violent offenses would be required to serve all of their time.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich said Friday that he was not aware of the proposed flat percentage for all inmates but said he would not support it. “You have to make decisions based on the severity of the crime and not blanket everyone in the jail with an early release opportunity,” he said. “Not all crimes are equal.”