Religious Groups and Law Enforcement Officials Charge that Governor Davis’ “No Parole Policy” is Unconstitutional


For Immediate Release: August 8, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO – An extraordinary and unusually diverse group of religious organizations and law enforcement officials, represented by attorneys from the ACLU of Northern California, the ACLU of Southern California and the law firm of Latham & Watkins, today filed a brief in the California Supreme Court urging the Court to order the release of Robert Rosenkrantz and Mark Smith, model prisoners who were granted parole by the Board of Prison Terms. 

The groups and officials charge that Governor Gray Davis – in reversing the parole grant of Rosenkrantz and Smith - has violated California law and the due process guarantees of the state and federal constitutions by implementing a “no parole policy” and not providing prisoners like Rosenkrantz and Smith fair and individualized consideration.

 In the friend-of-the-court brief, law enforcement officials, national religious organizations, and the trial judge in the criminal trial of Rosenkrantz conclude: “California’s system of parole for those who have been convicted of murder has been subverted under the administration of Governor Gray Davis.” 

“When a court of law sentences an offender to life in prison with the possibility of earning parole, no Governor should arbitrarily take away that hope for purely political reasons,” says Allen Breed, the former director of the California Youth Authority, who is joined on the brief by Raymond Procunier, who served as Director of a number of states’ Department of Corrections, including the California Department of Corrections and the Texas Department of Corrections. 

“This extraordinary group of individuals and organizations believe that rehabilitated prisoners who no longer pose a danger to society should be released on parole,” said Kyra Busby, an attorney with the law firm of Latham & Watkins.  “Every court that has ruled on the cases of these two men has determined that there is no evidence supporting a denial of their parole and that they are not a threat to public safety. The Supreme Court must act, because neither man will get a fair hearing in light of Governor Davis’ no parole policy.”

The list of amici includes Judge James Albracht, who was the trial judge in the criminal trial of Rosenkrantz; Mr. Breed, Mr. Procunier, the California Council of Churches; the Board of Rabbis of Northern California; the Directors of the Office of Detention Ministry of the Twelve Dioceses of the State of California; the Advisory Board of the Office of Detention Ministry (LA Archdiocese), the Catholic Chaplains from the Archdioceses of the State of California Serving the State Prisoners, the Order of the Society of Jesus(Jesuits), the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, and the California Coalition for Battered Women in Prison.

The Governor is not above the law,” said Alan Schlosser, Legal Director of the ACLU of Northern California.  “A blanket ‘no parole policy’ might be considered a shrewd sound bite during a political campaign, but it is in direct violation of California statutes and constitutional due process rights.”

Rosenkrantz was convicted of second-degree murder in 1985 and sentenced to 17 years to life. In prison, he has become a model prisoner and a computer expert.  Smith is a terminally ill and incapacitated prisoner whose physical condition alone shows that he is no longer a threat to society. 

In the brief, the organizations and officials argue that the Governor’s “no parole policy” is a blatant abuse of gubernatorial discretion and “constitutes a refusal to follow the laws governing parole, which were carefully crafted by the Legislature and the citizens of California to respect the important liberty interest at stake in the parole process, as well as insuring public safety.”