Crime victims, prosecutors sue over California regulations affecting inmates serving life without parole
A coalition of crime victims' families, prosecutors and victim advocates filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging new California Board of Parole Hearings regulations they say could allow some of the state's most violent offenders — including inmates sentenced to life without the possibility of parole — to seek release.
The lawsuit, filed by the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, asks a court to block regulations that create a process for inmates who have served at least 25 years to seek a sentence recall through the courts or request a gubernatorial commutation.
Supporters of the lawsuit argue the regulations undermine the meaning of California's harshest criminal sentence.
"That would create an entirely new process to allow the most dangerous and most violent inmates out of our prison system, including individuals serving life without parole," said Anne Marie Schubert, president and CEO of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.
The announcement drew families of high-profile murder victims to the Board of Parole Hearings headquarters in Sacramento, where they said the regulations force them to revisit some of the most painful moments of their lives.
"Keep your promise. Let life without the possibility of parole mean exactly what it says," said Angie Chavez, aunt of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu.
Cantu was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered in Tracy in 2009. Her killer, former Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby, is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Chavez said her family agreed to spare themselves a trial years ago because they believed Huckaby would never be eligible for release.
"This was not the promise that was made to our family," Chavez said. "If we had known that this was a possibility for her to get out and have freedom, we would have sought the death penalty."
Friends and supporters of Laci Peterson's family also joined the news conference.
"Those words meant something to us," said family friend Kim Juarez. "They represented a promise — a promise that while Laci and Conner would never come home, the person responsible would never again have the opportunity to walk free."
Juarez did not mention Scott Peterson by name. Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner, is among the inmates who could potentially seek relief under the regulations, according to the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. The organization estimates more than 2,400 inmates could be eligible under the new process.
The Board of Parole Hearings disputed the characterization of the regulations, saying they do not authorize the release of any inmate.
In a statement, the board said the regulations simply establish a process for preparing public safety risk assessments that can be provided to courts considering sentence recall requests or to the governor when evaluating clemency petitions.
For victims' families, however, the concern extends beyond whether anyone is ultimately released.
"Anxiety begins all over again. The sleepless nights return. The fear returns," Juarez said.
