A quadriplegic inmate serving a 150-year term for kidnapping, beating and raping a San Diego woman in 1998 will not be released to the care of family members under a new law, parole board rules.
A knife attack in prison in 2001 severed Martinez's spinal cord, leaving him a quadriplegic. His medical expenses cost the state more than $600,000 a year. When he was in a medical facility outside the prison, the cost of round-the-clock guards exceeded $800,000 a year.
Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Parole Board of California.[State Sen. Mark] Leno said the timing of the parole board's rejection of Martinez, the same week the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to release 33,000 prisoners, is particularly galling. "If we can't start with a quadriplegic, where can we begin?" he said.
Leno said he fears many prosecutors will oppose medical paroles "out of vengeance" toward the prisoners. "When we are unable to fund education and healthcare," he said, "how much vengeance can we afford?"
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