By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Don Thompson,
Associated Press – Wed Aug 3, 7:13 pm ET
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – "A state senator said Wednesday he wants to change California law so prisoners like the sex offender who was paroled before taking Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years would have a tougher time getting out of prison.
The proposal by Sen. Ted Gaines aims to undo a 2008 California Supreme ruling that requires the parole board to consider more than the original crime when deciding whether a prisoner is released.
Gaines and El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said the board currently pays too much attention to mental health evaluations, and inmates like Phillip Garrido can fool psychiatrists.
Garrido was on parole after serving time for rape when he kidnapped Dugard in 1991.
"Release is the rule rather than the exception" under the state Supreme Court ruling, Pierson said at a public hearing at the state Capitol. "The burden has shifted."
Gaines, a Republican who represents the South Lake Tahoe area where Dugard was abducted, said the board has granted parole to more than 1,300 prisoners serving life terms since the high court ruling. That amounts to 42 percent of all paroles granted to life-term inmates since 1978.
Garrido pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping Dugard while she was locked in a backyard compound at his home in the Northern California city of Antioch.. . " Read More
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