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The leader of California’s Senate effectively removed two commissioners from the state’s Board of Parole Hearings this June after releases they granted caused a public backlash.
The commissioners, Patricia Cassady and Teal Kozel, had already served nine and three years on the board respectively when they separately approved for release David Funston and Gregory Vogelsang, each of whom was serving a life sentence for sexual crimes committed against Sacramento-area children in the 1990s. Sacramento public safety officials opposed the releases and urged the public to protest the decisions at a subsequent review hearing.
Republican lawmakers in both houses of the state Legislature drafted bills calling for more transparency about commissioners’ decisions and changes to the elderly parole system, which allows certain offenders over age 50 to seek parole.
Instead of bringing their nominations up for consideration as is typical, Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, opted to shelve Cassady and Kozel’s reappointments to the board when it considered the nominations of five other commissioners who were seen as less controversial, senators Caroline Menjivar and John Laird confirmed to CalMatters.
The move protected Democratic senators from having to make difficult votes in public about whether to retain Cassady and Kozel, and prevented Republican lawmakers from capitalizing on the intrigue of sex crimes to gain political capital, a technique they’ve used repeatedly over the past few years.
California’s 21-member parole board assesses whether eligible prisoners are safe enough to be released back into the community under state supervision. Commissioners are appointed by the governor for three-year terms.
Cassady has since retired, and Kozel has returned to her former staff position as a senior psychologist supervisor with the board. Both women told CalMatters they felt the Senate Rules Committee should have publicly considered their appointments as they did for the five other commissioners who were ultimately confirmed.
“At least we would have been able to answer their questions and get some of our part out there,” she said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Cassady had roles with the agency for 31 years. Gov. Jerry Brown appointed her to her first three-year term on the board in 2016 and she was reappointed several times.
Kozel, who worked in prison psychology for 16 years before she was appointed to the board, declined to comment further when reached Thursday evening.
Gov. Gavin Newsom reappointed Cassady and Kozel, along with the other five, to the board in August 2025, before they made the consequential decisions. The commissioners continued to serve on the board and their reappointments had to be confirmed by the Senate within the year. Cassady said she was notified by Newsom’s office in June that the Senate Rules Committee had declined to take up her confirmation.
The decision not to consider the appointments meant that Democratic leaders removed the commissioners by omission.
Limón did not respond to a request for comment from her office about the decision. During the rules committee meeting when the other five were questioned, she referenced the recent “high-profile cases.”
“I think we all can agree that we share the goal of reassuring the public while respecting the constitutional and civil rights of everyone during these difficult decisions,” she said.
Keith Wattley, the executive director of the advocacy group UnCommon Law, said it is a commissioner’s job to assess whether someone is so dangerous that they must remain in prison, not bow to public pressure.
“It communicates to parole commissioners and other decisionmakers that if you do something that is not popular, even if it’s the right decision, even if it’s consistent with the law, even if it protects public safety, then there are costs to you in your career,” he said.
The commissioners’ ousting also concerned Heidi Rummel, a law professor at the University of Southern California and director of the Post-Conviction Justice Project.
“I predict that we will lose many of our most experienced and conscientious commissioners to the politicization of the process, at the expense of public safety,” she said in an emailed statement.
Although Newsom did not withdraw Cassaday and Kozel’s appointments, Wattley said he would be surprised if the Legislature acted without the governor’s support. Newsom said in February that he disagreed with the board’s decision to release Funston and sent the case back to the full board for another review. The board reaffirmed its decision. However, both Funston and Vogelsang remain incarcerated.
Newsom’s office did not respond to an email from CalMatters Thursday seeking comment.
Laird, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, said the decision “let some air” out of a tense situation.
“I think she was trying to balance a lot of concern in the caucus with the actual situation, and it was a very tough balance. And I think she did her best in that circumstance,” he said.
CalMatters’ Nigel Duara contributed to this story.
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