Legal Commentary

Schwarzenegger Grants Commutation on Final Day in Office

By Jeralyn

Today is California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's final day in office. On this final day, he granted a commutation of sentence to the son of the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, who had pleaded guilty to participating in the stabbling death of a college student. He was not the stabber, and had no priors, but received a maximum 16 year sentence. Schwarzenegger said the sentence was excessive and reduced it to 7 years.

In October, the judge refused to reduce his sentence, saying he had no jurisdiction because the case was on appeal.

More reductions and pardons are anticipated tonight:

[Schwarzenegger] also announced he was granting several other commutations and pardons and giving plum government appointments to political allies and the spouse of his chief of staff.

It's now Jerry Brown's turn. We'll see if he does any better on sorely needed prison reform and is smart enough to demand and implement effective prisoner reentry programs as a way of cutting costs and investing in future safety.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 02, 2011 (boomark / email).