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State lawmakers advance medical release for county jail inmates

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The state Senate on Wednesday approved a request by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to allow jails to release terminally ill and medically incapacitated inmates before their sentences are complete.

A similar program adopted for state prisons has saved the state tens of millions of dollars, according to state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the author of SB 1462, which was sent to the Assembly for consideration.

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The goal of the bill is ‘making room in overcrowded county jails for those who are dangerous and saving county governments dollars,’ Leno told his colleagues before the 22-15 Senate vote.

Sheriffs would be able to release prisoners deemed not a threat to society if a doctor determines they have six months or less to live. The sheriff would also be able to grant medical probation to physically incapacitated inmates.

Sen. Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) was among those opposing the bill. He noted that the Lockerbie bomber responsible for bringing down a Pan Am plane over Scotland lived for six years after he was given compassionate release for a terminal illness.

‘This is a threat to society,’ Anderson said of the bill.

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