The union that represents sheriff's deputies filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop the early release of inmates from Orange County jails, the second lawsuit in the state aimed at stopping local releases under a new law.
The union's lawsuit, filed in Orange County Superior Court, is modeled after one filed in Sacramento County. Last week, a judge there issued a temporary restraining order halting the release of the inmates under the new state law. The union leadership - which represents about 1,800 deputies with the Orange County Sheriff's Department - is hoping for a similar result here.
More than 1,500 county inmates have been reported to have been released statewide under the new guidelines, including 401 inmates from Orange County jails. Most of those inmates were released by counties that interpreted the law to mean that inmates could earn time off their sentences retroactively - resulting in the some early releases on the day the law took effect.
On Tuesday afternoon, the state's attorney general issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, stating that the new law should not be applied retroactively. The bulletin rang hollow for several sheriff's departments in the state that have already released hundreds of inmates using a retroactive formula.
"The whole thing is extremely frustrating," said Ryan Burris, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, who along with the District Attorney's Office, Public Defender's Office, and county attorneys had decided to apply the law retroactively.
But if the lawsuits filed by deputies' unions in Sacramento and Orange County are successful, they could halt the early release of county inmates under the new law entirely.
The Association of Orange County Sheriffs Deputies has hired the Law Offices of Mastagni, Hostedt, Amick, Miller & Johnsen, the same firm that filed suit in Sacramento, and has made many of the same arguments. Citing recent cuts to the department's staff, the union called the releases a threat to the public and deputies.
Attorneys representing the union also argue that the state law, which went into effect Jan. 25, was meant to affect state prisons only, not county jails. Under the new law, inmates in several counties are able to shave off as much as half their sentences, instead of up to one-third under the old guidelines. Registered sex offenders, and inmates with violent or serious felonies, are not eligible to earn those credits.
In county prisons, inmates can be sentence up to a year behind bars. Under the new law, inmates with a sentence of one year may get up to six months off their sentence - compared with four months under the old system.
After the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff's Association won a preliminary injunction there, Wayne Quint, president of the Association of Orange County Sheriff Deputies, said he spoke with Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and asked her to halt the release of inmates locally.
"They don't have to be released," Quint said. "I just think it's bad policy."
Sheriff departments across the state have applied the new law differently. Officials said they waited for guidance from Attorney General Jerry Brown on whether the law should be applied retroactively or not, but did not receive a response until Tuesday.
Burris said late Tuesday that the Orange County Sheriff's Department will now follow Brown's instructions, and inmates will begin to accrue the new credits for good behavior and completing other programs only for time served after Jan. 25. As for the inmates who have already been released early, Burris said the department would not be bringing them back to jail. They will remain free.
In the Sacramento case, Superior Court Judge Loren E. McMaster ruled last week that the law was intended for state, not county inmates, and that the release of inmates into the streets under the new provisions, while the number of deputies is being reduced, is a "formula for disaster." A temporary restraining order was issued there and a hearing is set for March.
In the Orange County suit, attorneys cited Kevin Peterson as an example. He's an inmate from Sacramento County Jail who was released early despite a 2008 arrest for assault with a deadly weapon. Peterson was serving time for a parole violation when he was released early from his four-month sentence, and arrested hours later after allegedly attempting to rape a woman.
The case is now commonly cited by law enforcement officials across the state who have stated their opposition to the new law.
Attorneys with the county will be responding to the union's suit, said Commander Jay LeFlore of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. For the moment, the department is bound to continue granting inmates credits to be released according to the law, even though the department is opposed to it, he said.
If a judge grants a temporary order halting the release of inmates according to the new law, the department will follow that order, LeFlore said.
"It's our intent to follow the law," he said. "We don't agree with the change (SB X3 18), but we're going to follow the law, whether we agree with it or not."
Sheriff Hutchens has also stated her opposition to the new law, calling it "appalling" and saying that the county's jails have the space to allow inmates serve their full sentences.
Hutchens is also working with the California State Sheriff's Association for a "legislative fix" to the law, according to a statement issued by the department.
