By Mathew Miranda and Lindsey Holden | Sacramento Bee
Bills aimed at overhauling two California criminal justice issues fell apart during the last hours of the legislative year, showing the challenges such measures face, even in a deep-blue state.
Senate Bill 50, authored by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, would have limited when police officers can conduct traffic stops in an effort to reduce racial profiling. Senate Bill 94 from Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, would have allowed some prisoners serving life without parole to petition courts for re-sentencing.
“California is not as progressive as we want the rest of the world or the rest of the country to believe,” Bradford said. “We tend to continue to lean toward law enforcement and the lock-them-up attitude than real police reform and criminal justice reform that this country and this state truly needs.”
He pulled his bill late Thursday night after months of opposition from influential district attorneys and law enforcement groups.
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