California's Criminal Loving Governor Refers to Murdered Victims and their Families as "Political Rhetoric"

California has been at the forefront of soft on crime policies for well over a decade.  And what has it brought the state and its residents?  An increase crime and a decrease in defendant accountability.  A deadly combination that leads to more dangerous neighborhoods and communities.  The latest soft on crime policy being pushed on California’s law-abiding residents is the steady expansion of early release of long-term inmates, including those convicted of the most serious violent crimes. Through its Elder Parole program and a series of regulatory changes by the Board of Parole Hearings, the state has created new pathways for older inmates, many of them convicted murderers serving lengthy or life sentences, to seek release after decades behind bars.

Leading the charge against this irresponsible and dangerous shift is the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.  They are arguing that these regulatory changes have the potential to open the door for some inmates that have been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole to pursue sentence reductions or gubernatorial commutations.  These types of nonsensical releases are simply a slap in the face of the victims and their families.  A sentence of “life without parole” should mean exactly that…LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE. 

When the Governor’s office dismissed the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation’s lawsuit challenging these new parole regulations as “political rhetoric,” it completely ignored the real victims and the incalculable human cost of the policies in question. That cost became painfully clear on July 17, 2025, when 40-year-old Navy veteran Joshua Byrd was shot and killed inside his own office while working for the Division of Adult Parole Operations in Oakland. A husband and father of three, Byrd became the first California parole agent killed on duty in 132 years. The man allegedly responsible had been released from parole despite an extensive violent criminal history. After the shooting, the suspect fled, allegedly robbed a transit passenger during his escape, and was only captured after a multi-agency manhunt.

Joshua Byrd cannot speak for himself. His death is not an abstract policy debate. It is the real-world consequence of decisions that prioritize the early release of violent offenders over the safety of the public and the people tasked with supervising them. The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation’s lawsuit exists because of cases like his, and because of the victims and families who were promised that the most serious sentences would actually mean what they said. When state officials reduce these tragedies to “political rhetoric,” they erase the people who pay the price. Joshua Byrd was a veteran, a husband, a father, and a public servant. He is the reason the fight for accountability in the criminal justice system continues.  To learn more about the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation and their lawsuit visit, Protect Victims. Stop Early Release. | Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.