How does Prop. 5 protect the public from violent and serious offenders?
Nonviolent, low-risk offenders currently spend as long under post-prison parole supervision as people convicted of murder: 3-5 years. This overwhelms parole officers’ caseloads so they aren’t able to watch anyone effectively. Under Prop. 5, nonviolent offenders—who have already served their time behind bars and paid their debt to society—would be placed on post-prison parole for one year and could earn their way down to six months through good behavior and completion of rehabilitative programming. At the same time Prop. 5 would increase parole terms for violent and serious offenders. In this way, Prop. 5 allows parole officers to focus their attention on violent offenders to keep our communities safe.
