Publication: San Jose Mercury
About two years into what was slated to be a 28-year prison sentence, Kennard Isaiah Love was all out of hope.
... “I decided I was going to make so much of a positive influence in prison, they’re going to kick me out of there,” Love said.
With the help of a two-year-old law, he did just that.
Love became one of 12 people convicted in Santa Clara County to be resentenced and released under Assembly Bill 2942, a 2019 criminal justice reform bill that empowered California prosecutors, rather than just judges and prison officials, to recommend re-sentencing for state prisoners they believe have been rehabilitated.
... Before the law was shepherded through the state Legislature by San Francisco Assemblyman Phil Ting, resentencing consideration typically didn’t happen until a person’s first parole hearing, which for many serious crimes might not happen for well over a decade.