Brown allows parole for killers at higher rate

Kcra 3 — Gov. Jerry Brown continues to allow convicted murderers to be paroled from California prisons at a much higher rate than his predecessors.

The governor's office said Friday that Brown let stand 80 percent of the state Board of Parole Hearings' 470 decisions to free convicted killers in 2012.

The governor reversed 91 of the parole decisions and sent 2 cases back for reconsideration by the full board.

His office says Brown allowed 82 percent of the board's 412 parole decisions in 2011.

By contrast, former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger only allowed about a quarter of the recommended paroles to stand, while former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis allowed just 2 percent.

Governor's spokesman Evan Westrup notes that in 2011 state courts overturned nearly three-quarters of 144 Schwarzenegger reversals that were challenged.