Judge: California must consider earlier parole for sex offenders

A state judge says California must consider earlier parole for potentially thousands of sex offenders, maybe even those convicted of pimping children.

The ruling requires prison officials to rewrite part of the regulations for Proposition 57.

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

Friday, a judge in Sacramento said the scope of Prop 57 must be narrowed to only those now serving time for a violent sex offense.

That means those who already served their time for a sex crime, even a violent one, and now are imprisoned for a different crime should be eligible for early release.