Source: calmatters.org 9/11/26
In summary
Two parole board members who authorized the release of men convicted of sex crimes were ousted after Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón declined to take up their appointments. Criminal justice advocates are concerned.
The leader of California’s Senate effectively removed two commissioners from the state’s Board of Parole Hearings this June after releases they granted caused a public backlash.
The commissioners, Patricia Cassady and Teal Kozel, had already served nine and three years on the board respectively when they separately approved for release David Funston and Gregory Vogelsang, each of whom was serving a life sentence for sexual crimes committed against Sacramento-area children in the 1990s. Sacramento public safety officials opposed the releases and urged the public to protest the decisions at a subsequent review hearing.
Republican lawmakers in both houses of the state Legislature drafted bills calling for more transparency about commissioners’ decisions and changes to the elderly parole system, which allows certain offenders over age 50 to seek parole.
Instead of bringing their nominations up for consideration as is typical, Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, opted to shelve Cassady and Kozel’s reappointments to the board when it considered the nominations of five other commissioners who were seen as less controversial, senators Caroline Menjivar and John Laird confirmed to CalMatters.
The move protected Democratic senators from having to make difficult votes in public about whether to retain Cassady and Kozel, and prevented Republican lawmakers from capitalizing on the intrigue of sex crimes to gain political capital, a technique they’ve used repeatedly over the past few years.
California’s 21-member parole board assesses whether eligible prisoners are safe enough to be released back into the community under state supervision. Commissioners are appointed by the governor for three-year terms.
Cassady has since retired, and Kozel has returned to her former staff position as a senior psychologist supervisor with the board. Both women told CalMatters they felt the Senate Rules Committee should have publicly considered their appointments as they did for the five other commissioners who were ultimately confirmed.
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Keith Wattley, the executive director of the advocacy group UnCommon Law, said it is a commissioner’s job to assess whether someone is so dangerous that they must remain in prison, not bow to public pressure.
“It communicates to parole commissioners and other decisionmakers that if you do something that is not popular, even if it’s the right decision, even if it’s consistent with the law, even if it protects public safety, then there are costs to you in your career,” he said.
Although Newsom did not withdraw Cassaday and Kozel’s appointments, Wattley said he would be surprised if the Legislature acted without the governor’s support.
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If politicians didn’t make sex crimes a huge deal based on rare horrific crimes this wouldn’t be an issue. Sacramento public officials made an uproar that should cost them their jobs.