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California Felony-Murder Reform Shaves 11,000 Years Off 600 Prisoner Sentences
Douglas Ankney
According to an analysis from California’s Office of the State Public Defender (OSPD), reforms to the state’s felony-murder statutes had a dramatic effect by August 3, 2023. By then the agency had found sentence reductions granted to 602 state prisoners, since state lawmakers passed SB 1437 in 2018 …
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More from this issue:
- Overcrowded and Understaffed, Oklahoma County Jail Remains “Deplorable”, by David Reutter
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Lawsuit Claims Seattle’s King County Jail Shows Little Improvement in Quarter Century Since “Hammer Agreement”
- No Jail Time for Former Arizona Prisons Director After Armed Standoff With Cops
- Pennsylvania County Found Skimming Prisoner-Designated Funds from ViaPath Kickbacks
- Colorado Sheriff Resigns After Deputies Fatally Shoot Motorist
- With Guard Arrests at Georgia Jail, Sheriff Asks, “What Are We Doing Wrong?”
- U.S. Sentencing Commission Greenlights Retroactive Sentence Reductions
- Redemption Songs: The Forgotten History of American Prison Music, by Maurice Chammah
- Nearly $11 Million Settlement Reached in Suit by BOP Prisoners Held Without Heat, Electricity During New York Winter Storm, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Becomes the Fifth State to Make Prison Phone Calls Free
- Federal Prisoner in Virginia Convicted on Fresh Kiddie Porn Charges After Drawing His Own
- California Slowed, But Not Barred from “Dumping” Sick, Indigent Parolees on Public Hospitals
- Rikers Island Detainees Given Pricey Weight-Loss Surgery but Little Follow-Up Care
- Illinois Eases Restrictions on Prisoners Released Under Supervision
- Moms Released from Massachusetts Prison Decry Dearth of Help
- Eighth Circuit Issues Primer on Informal Due Process Procedures to Missouri Prisoner, by David Reutter
- DOJ Finds ADA Violations in Arizona Prisons, Demands Improvements
- Sick Georgia Prisoners Forced to Choose Between Treatment and Early Release
- Unsealed Settlement Reveals PrimeCare Medical Paid $337,500 After Pennsylvania Prisoner’s Suicide, by David Reutter
- Eighth Circuit Remands ADA Claims—But Not Constitutional Claims—of Paralyzed Arkansas Jail Detainee, by David Reutter
- “Unethical At Best”: Hawaii Budget Director Charged With Financing New Prison is Former CoreCivic Lobbyist
- Alabama Conducts First Nitrogen Hypoxia Execution
- “More jobs than people”: Prisoners Training to Work on Ohio Infrastructure Projects after Release
- Escape from Oregon State Hospital Results in Changes to Detainee Transports
- HRDC Wins $14 Million Settlement for Exonerated Florida Prisoner
- Four Dead in One Month in San Bernardino County Jails, $3,232,500 in Settlements Paid So Far, by Douglas Ankney, Casey Bastian
- Seventh Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Challenge to Seized $10,000, by David Reutter
- Alabama Prisons Facing Third Class-Action Lawsuit
- Muslim Florida Prisoner Awarded Permanent Injunction to Grow Untrimmed Beard, by David Reutter
- North Carolina Prison Official Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Program Fraud
- South Carolina Sheriff Ordered to Pay $37,500 in Fees and Costs in Jail FOIA Case, by Matthew Clarke
- Guard and Four Summit Food Service Employees Arrested for Smuggling at Troubled Atlanta Jail
- New York Prisoners with Chronic Pain Win Injunction to Receive Denied Medication, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit Shuts Down Settlement Agreement in Long-Running California Prisoners’ Gang Affiliation Suit, by David Reutter
- $470,000 Settlement After Texas Jail Nurses Fabricate Vital Signs for Detainee Who Died, by Douglas Ankney
- New Jersey Supreme Court Revives Parolee’s Challenge to Administratively Imposed Treatment Program, by Matthew Clarke
- BOP Pays $40,000 to Prisoner Sexually Assaulted at Florida Lockup by Guard, Who Must Pay Her $1 Million, by David Reutter
- Serial Killer Murdered by Cellmate at Texas Lockup
- California Felony-Murder Reform Shaves 11,000 Years Off 600 Prisoner Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
- Seventh Circuit Says Lack of Expert Testimony Dooms Illinois Prisoner’s Medical Neglect Claim, by Douglas Ankney
- Texas Fights Fetal Rights After Forcing Prison Guard to Stay At Work Until She Delivered Stillborn Baby
- Suit Filed After Mentally Ill Detainee Starves to Death in Miami Jail, by David Reutter
- Senators Grill BOP Chief—Then Say They’ll Toss Her More Money
- Nevada Prisoner Strikes Out in Access-to-Courts Claim, by David Reutter
- New Jersey Private Prison Ban Voided
- Eighth Circuit Affirms $800,000 Award After Arkansas Jail Detainee’s Fatal Appendix Rupture, by Matthew Clarke
- New Minnesota Justice Center Aims to be More ‘Humane’
- Wellpath Held in Contempt in Suit at California Jail
- Minnesota Prison on Lockdown After Protest Over Dirty Water, Lack of Phone Use and Out-of-Cell Time
- California Prison Fined $1.7 Million for Stormwater Discharges, Environmental Violations
- Seventh Circuit Reinstates Wisconsin Prisoner’s ADA Claim for Untreated Knee Injury, by Matthew Clarke
- Eleventh Circuit Revives Claim Against Florida Jail That Forced Detainee to Scan Legal Mail Into Computer with Memory Chip, by David Reutter
- Louisiana Fugitive Recaptured After 32 Years
- Illinois Failing to Grant Dying Prisoners Medical Releases
- MTC Returns $5.125 Million to Mississippi for “Ghost Workers” at Private Prisons
- Florida Pastor Accused of Running Shoplifting Ring With DUI Diversion Program Participants
- $900,000 Settlement Reached With Ohio Jail in Detainee’s Fatal Seizure, by David Reutter
- Tribal Courts Expand ‘Healing to Wellness’ Rehabilitation Programs
- Four TDCJ Guards Resign, Seven Suspended for Beating Handcuffed Prisoner Into Coma
- Michigan Reaches $1.03 Million Settlement with Exonerated Prisoner
- Oklahoma Parole Board Resignations Threaten Prisoner Clemencies
- After Eight Deaths in Eight Years, Virginia Jail Introduces—Pickleball?
- News in Brief
More from Douglas Ankney:
- The Trial Penalty: How America Abandoned the Right to Trial, Nov. 15, 2025
- Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard, Aug. 1, 2025
- Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, Aug. 1, 2025
- $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner Whose Baby Was Stillborn, July 15, 2025
- New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, July 15, 2025
- New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, July 15, 2025
- Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, July 15, 2025
- Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance in Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, July 15, 2025
- Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose Records of Private Contractors, July 15, 2025
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- SCOTUS Announces Sentence ‘Has Not Been Imposed’ for Purposes of First Step Act Retroactivity Upon Resentencing When § 924(c) Offender Sentenced Prior to Act’s Enactment but Sentence Subsequently Vacated, Aug. 1, 2025. Retroactivity, First Step Act, Resentencing, Recidivist Enhancements, Stacking Mandatory Minimum Sentences.
- California Court of Appeal: Trial Court Misconstrued Elements of Implied Malice Theory of Provocative Act Murder Under Current Law and Reverses Denial of Petition for Resentencing, Aug. 1, 2025. Murder/Felony Murder, Resentencing, Failure to Prove.
- Florida Prisoner Returns to Custody After Overturned Conviction Reinstated, May 1, 2025. False Statements/Perjury, Resentencing, Witnesses - Prior Statements/Testimony, Effect of Vacatur, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues.
- Arkansas Supreme Court Rules § 16-93-609(b)(2)(B), Relating to Parole Eligibility for Residential Burglary Conviction, Applies Retroactively to Defendant, April 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Bank Fraud/Robbery/Theft, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Eligibility for Parole.
- Alabama Governor Commutes Death Sentence, April 1, 2025. Death Penalty/Death Row, Resentencing.
- Philadelphia Agrees to $9.1 Million Settlement for Wrongful Murder Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Settlements, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Murder/Felony Murder.
- California Court of Appeal Announces Defendants May Obtain Brady Evidence From Police Officers’ Personnel Files in Advance of § 1172.6 Hearing Requesting Vacatur of Conviction and Resentencing for Certain Types of Murder Convictions, Feb. 15, 2025. Disclosure of Records, Police, Brady Violations, Murder/Felony Murder, Resentencing, Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration, Evidence - Admissibility.
- California Court of Appeal Announces Equal Protection Entitles Youth Offenders Convicted of Special Circumstances Murder Predicated on Robbery or Burglary to Franklin and Parole Hearings Under Cal. Penal Code § 3051, Feb. 15, 2025. Equal Protection Clause/Claims, Murder/Felony Murder, Juvenile Offenses/Offenders, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
- Massachusetts Supreme Court Vacates Threat-Based Conviction on First Amendment Grounds Because Jury Instructions Failed to Include Mens Rea Element Mandated by Counterman for ‘True-Threat’ Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Resentencing, Threats, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment.
- First Step Act Linked to Modest Reductions in Time Served by Federal Prisoners, Feb. 1, 2025. First Step Act, Resentencing, Credits.

