There is an old saying: “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

In the case of one-sided politics in CA, the Republicans' constant “squeaking on crime” has worked, as the CA Senate dumped two board members because they are tired of Republicans, who have no power to shape policy with legislation, taking to shaping policy by simply pointing out every time the Majority Party sticks with public safety “reforms” that are popular with about 2% of the voting-age population.

Patricia Cassady, who had already served nine years on the parole board, and Teal Kozel, who had served three, separately approved the release of David Funston and Gregory Vogelsang. Both men were serving life sentences for sexual crimes committed against children in the Sacramento area in the 1990s. Sacramento public safety officials opposed the parole grants and called on the public to protest, which they did, loudly. The cases also drew scrutiny of the state’s elderly parole program, which allows certain offenders age 50 and older to seek release.

In response, Republican lawmakers in both houses of the Legislature drafted bills seeking greater transparency in parole board decision-making—Senator Shannon Grove from Bakersfield “squeaking” the loudest and most consistently. The Senate leader, sick of hearing it, canned the nominations of Cassady and Kozel for consideration in the usual manner, and opted to set them aside to avoid the noise. The Rules Committee took up the appointments of five other commissioners who have been less controversial.

Much of this goes back to Proposition 36, which the entire Democratic Party apparatus in the state opposed but passed anyway. Prop. 36 increased penalties for theft and drug crimes in 2014. Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper led the charge, as he has grown tired of arresting horrible people who then get a pass from the parole board to rape, rob, and kill again.

The pendulum is swinging on crime; this latest data point indicates that public safety is a top issue in CA.