California to appeal ruling on earlier sex offender parole

Gov. Jerry Brown will appeal a judge’s ruling that California must consider earlier parole for potentially thousands of sex offenders, such as those convicted of raping an unconscious person.

Corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said the administration will fight the order made final Monday by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner. His final order upholds last month’s tentative ruling that prison officials must rewrite part of the regulations for Proposition 57.

The 2016 ballot measure allows earlier parole for most state prison inmates, but Brown promised voters that all sex offenders would be excluded.

The state will challenge Sumner’s finding that the exclusion may apply only to those now serving time for a violent sex offense. He also ordered corrections officials to better define what falls into that category.