Senate Bill 672, the "Youth Rehabilitation and Opportunity Act," passed the Senate by a 24-11 party-line vote. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)
Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones said Democrats "just opened the prison gates for over 1,600 cold-blooded killers."
"Democrat lawmakers across the aisle have proven time and time again they don’t care about the victim or their family," he said in a statement. "They don’t care about keeping the public safe. They care about defending killers."
"This bill isn’t about second chances for petty offenders. It grants opportunity for release to some of the most violent criminals," Sen. Kelly Seyarto said. "These individuals were sentenced to life without parole for crimes so extreme that the justice system deemed them beyond rehabilitation. Instead of weakening our justice system, we should be focusing on strengthening public safety and protecting Californians."
Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil said the people who committed these "depraved" crimes have "earned their sentence," and it is "simply wrong for Democrat legislators to think they know better than the judges and juries who heard these cases."
The bill was amended to exclude criminals convicted of certain offenses the chance to seek parole. (Getty Images)
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Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher, a Republican, has vowed to attempt to kill the bill when it reaches the Assembly.
"This is what happens when soft-on-crime activists make the rules," Gallagher told Fox News Digital. "They’re bending over backwards to help murderers while families are still grieving. These aren’t kids. They’re violent adults who earned life without parole. We’re going to kill this bill in the Assembly and make sure California doesn’t become a sanctuary for violent offenders."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of Rubio and Democratic co-authors Josh Becker, María Elena Durazo, Caroline Menjivar and Sasha Renée Pérez for comment.
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