Passes Senate Floor
January 27, 2016 - Sacramento--- Today, Senator Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) announced the passage of Senate Bill 6 from the Senate Floor with bipartisan support. The bill passed on a vote of 35-1 and now heads over to the Assembly.
SB 6 eliminates the ability of individuals convicted of the murder of a peace officer to be eligible for release from prison under compassionate or medical parole provisions. The bill was sponsored by the California Narcotics Officers’ Association and enjoyed a wide breadth of law enforcement support.
“The entire law enforcement community is deeply grateful to Senator Galgiani for her leadership in moving this bill forward,” said John Lovell, Legislative Counsel for the California Narcotics Officers’ Association.
A multi-year period existed in the 1970’s where California had neither a death penalty sentence nor a sentence of life without the possibility of parole available to prosecutors. In any other time, the First Degree murder of a peace officer would result in either a sentence of death or an LWOP sentence. For that period, however, persons who convicted of first degree murder of a police officer were sentenced to life with parole.
“If an offender kills one who protects and serves, no one feels safe. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on our community as a whole,” said Senator Galgiani. “The honorable work that our men and women in law enforcement perform on a daily basis is crucial to ensuring that our neighbors and families live in safe communities.”
Senate Bill 6 will guarantee that individuals convicted of these heinous crimes serve their entire sentences given to them by a jury of their peers.
Source: Senator Cathleen Galgiani
