Convicted serial rapist Andrew Luster, 60, is set to be released early from prison thanks to his crimes being classified as “non-violent” thanks to Proposition 57, crafted by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2016.
As the UK Daily Mail notes, Luster was “was convicted of 86 counts of drugging and raping unconscious women in 2003,” and “infamously fled to Mexico during his rape trial – only to be tracked down by Dog the Bounty Hunter. … Initially handed 124 years in prison, depraved Luster’s sentence was revised down to 50 years in 2013 on appeal.”
He was granted parole in August, roughly 20 years after his conviction and less than halfway through his sentence.
The reason: a ballot initiative whose language was approved by Harris when she was California Attorney General.
Proposition 57 is less well-known than Proposition 47, which Harris backed in 2014. Proposition 47 reduced several felonies to misdemeanors, and critics say it is directly responsible for the wave of retail theft across California.
(Proposition 36, which aims to amend Proposition 47, and which is opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is extremely popular, with a recent poll showing 71% of voters in California plan to vote for the anti-crime ballot initiative.)
Proposition 57 sought to reduce overcrowding in prisons by offering early release to non-violent criminals. But it left out a definition of “non-violent” crime, meaning that any crime not on the state’s list of major felonies would qualify.
The Pacific Research Institute warned in 2016:
Voters will find Proposition 57 on their ballots this fall and many will support it as they’ve been led to believe that it is simply a vehicle, according to the ballot language, for “increasing parole and good behavior opportunities for felons convicted of nonviolent crimes.” Supporters include Gov. Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Kamala Harris. The Democratic machine, the ruling party in what is essentially a one-party state, is also behind the measure.
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It’s likely there would be little opposition to the initiative if it were to actually achieve what its proponents say it will. But instead of allowing for the release of truly nonviolent inmates only, the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016 would permit release of inmates who have been convicted of brutal acts.
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As written, the measure expressly blocks early release of those convicted of 23 specific violent crimes. Its weakness – a gaping loophole, in reality – is that there is a long list of violent crimes that aren’t a part of that 23. Felons convicted of arson causing great bodily harm, a drive-by shooting, hostage taking, assault with a deadly weapon, attempting to bomb a school or hospital, and several other violent offenses will be eligible for early release, opponents say. A catalog of sexual-assault related crimes, gang-related crimes and crimes against children qualify as “nonviolent” offenses under the early-release program, as well.
Dan Walters recently noted in the Santa Maria Times that attempts to use regulations to broaden the definition of violent crimes were unsuccessful:
Prop. 57 opponents, noting that rape of an unconscious person was among the serious crimes excluded from Brown’s list, argued that the measure could benefit violent sex offenders.
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[A]ttorneys for the 4,400 felons who had been excluded from early parole challenged their legality, arguing that the state could not, by regulation, modify the wording of a voter-approved ballot measure. Eventually the issue wound up in the state Supreme Court, which set aside the regulations in 2020.
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In effect the decision gave date rapists and other sex offenders access to the lenient parole provisions of Prop. 57. They didn’t hesitate to use it, which brings us to Luster, an heir to the Max Factor makeup fortune.
Harris likes to tout her record as a prosecutor, both as District Attorney for San Francisco, and as California Attorney General, but the truth is that her record was one of leniency toward major violent crimes, and diligence in pursuing low-level offenders, such as marijuana users or the parents of truant schoolchildren.
Her role in Proposition 57 was raised by her opponent in the U.S. Senate race in 2016, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA):
At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, Sanchez criticized the ballot measure and Harris’ role in crafting the language for its summary paragraph while serving as the state’s Attorney General. Harris has chosen not to take a position on any ballot measure.
“The ballot title and summary, written by Attorney General Kamala Harris, calls serious violent crimes ‘non-violent,’ including crimes such as rape by intoxication of an unconscious person, human trafficking involving a sex act with minors,” Sanchez said in a statement. “Proposition 57 is the misleading and dangerous ballot initiative that would allow serious, violent criminals out on early release without completing their sentences.”
Proposition 57 was so harmful that even Harris’s successor, Attorney General Rob Bonta, has said that it went too far.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
