FIRST ON FOX — A Democrat-led bill meant to protect prisoners from sexual violence while incarcerated in California state facilities by addressing issues related to sexual abuse could wind up reducing violent criminals' sentences altogether, state Republicans warn.
SB 898, authored by Berkeley Democrat state Sen. Nancy Skinner, aims to enhance protections for individuals incarcerated in California state facilities by addressing issues related to sexual abuse and expanding opportunities for legal relief.
But Republicans say that a little-known provision in the bill would enable inmates serving sentences of 15 years or more to seek resentencing or release if there have been changes to sentencing guidelines since their conviction.
"And you know, they're touting that crime is going down, but it's because the Democrats have decriminalized crime in California," state Sen. Brian Dahle told Fox News Digital in an interview. "And so victims of homicide, heinous sexual crimes, rape, murder, molestation of children all can come up in every three years, can go have a potential hearing to get out, whether or not they've been rehabilitated or not."
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Dahle said this will create a cycle of frequent hearings and petitions, which means victims will have to repeatedly attend these hearings every three years and relive the trauma inflicted upon them by the perpetrator.
Skinner dismisses the Republican criticisms, calling them "false accusations" about SB 898 that are "just the latest example of MAGA distortions and lies."
"SB 898 is focused first and foremost on providing protections for incarcerated people who have proven to have been raped or sexually assaulted by prison guards or staff," she told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Its additional provision merely adds defense attorneys to the existing list of those who are eligible to request a court hearing if California changes a sentencing law. SB 898 does not release anyone from prison, period."
The California District Attorneys Association decried the bill, saying they "strenuously object to creating a revolving door of hearings for [murderers], rapists, and child molesters."
The provision allows defense attorneys to request hearings if California ever revises prison sentences for certain crimes, but it does not automatically release anyone from prison. The hearings are not guaranteed and can be denied by judges, with no assurance that a change in sentencing guidelines would result in immediate release.
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Meanwhile, Skinner's bill focuses on several proposals regarding how sexual abuse and sentencing issues are handled within the California prison system. It mandates that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation monitor incarcerated individuals who report sexual abuse for 90 days to prevent retaliation.
"If somebody's being raped in prison, then obviously we need to isolate those incidences and do something to correct that," Dahle said in response. "That's been an ongoing thing since people have been put in prison. Yes, there are some bad actors, but for the most part, we're doing as good as we can in the situations we have, but they've made prisons a place where it's hard to isolate somebody."
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According to the Senate Republicans' analysis of the bill, the bill "is mislabeled by Legislative Counsel as a bill primarily dealing with 'sexual assault resentencing.'"
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"That title remains from the prior version and while [it] has some remaining provisions on that topic, the most important changes the bill makes to sentencing law have nothing to do with sexual assault, other than to potentially let individuals who have committed sex crimes out of prison earlier," the analysis reads.
