‘Criminal justice reform’ kills another police officer in California
Zachary Faria
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“Criminal justice reform” in California means letting criminals out on the street regardless of state law and regardless of how dangerous they are. As anyone could guess, it has lethal consequences.
Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Isaiah Cordero was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Thursday. He was killed by William McKay, who later opened fire on other officers and was killed as a result. According to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, McKay had a criminal history stretching back to the 1990s, and he was “convicted of his third strike” under California’s “three strikes” law in November 2021.
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So, how was McKay back out on the street after earning his third strike on a conviction for a case that “involved kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon”? According to Bianco, a San Bernardino County judge allowed him to walk free. “Instead of sentencing him to 25 years to life, which should’ve happened, the judge lowered his bail, allowing him to be released,” Bianco said. McKay allegedly failed to appear at his sentencing, leading to him being arrested again, and Bianco says the same judge released him again.
But California is the land of criminal justice reform, where prosecutors and judges are given a pass if they ignore the state’s own criminal punishments, and so McKay was free to roam the streets despite a history of violence. This is not even the first time this year that a violent career criminal was out on the streets to kill law enforcement officials because someone ignored the enhancements in California’s three strikes law.
Career criminal Justin Flores, who had a violent history and a strike on his record, was let loose by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon. He then killed two El Monte police officers, Michael Paredes and Joseph Santana, all because Gascon thought a 20-day jail sentence for a violent gang member was a sufficient punishment for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon.
Today’s liberal criminal justice reform movement talks about nonviolent drug offenses and makes vague claims about equity, but this is what it looks like in reality. Violent career criminals that any reasonable person understands are threats to society are let loose with little more than slaps on the wrist. Emboldened by the lack of consequences, they become more brazen and more dangerous, and the results are lethal.
This is what criminal justice reform looks like in practice in California and numerous other jurisdictions, and nothing is going to change unless voters begin to demand it.
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