May 13, 2021 – MARIPOSA, CA – Mariposa County District Attorney Walter Wall announced today that he has joined Anne Marie Schubert and 35 Elected District Attorneys across California, in filing a petition with the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) requesting the repeal of temporary emergency regulations awarding additional credits to over 76,000 state prison inmates.

The regulations were passed under a claim of an emergency and first made public on Friday, April 30, 2021 at 3 P.M. These regulations would result in the early release of some of California’s most violent criminals.

In adopting these regulations, and claiming an emergency, the CDCR Secretary stated these regulations were necessary to comply with “the direction outlined in the Governor’s Budget Summary” presented a year ago on May 14, 2020. By invoking an emergency, the traditional regulatory scheme and transparent public comment period was bypassed.

The administrative law petition is often the first step in seeking a formal court order declaring the regulations unlawful. If the emergency regulations are nullified by a court, CDCR would be forced to pass the regulations in the traditional manner, requiring the State’s Office of Administrative Law to provide greater transparency and public input.

District Attorney Wall has commented, “Early release of the most dangerous criminals will result from these concealed regulations, because the direct result will be up to as much as 50% shortened sentences. This undermines the judiciary in California which originally imposed those sentences and undermines public trust in the legislative and regulatory process. This will most certainly impact the victims of these crime and will create a serious public safety risk. In this petition, the District Attorneys of California are asking CDCR to repeal these regulations, begin the process anew and allow for transparency and public input. Victims, their families, and all Californians deserve a fair and honest debate about the wisdom of such drastic regulations.”

Source: Mariposa County District Attorney’s Office