By Cecilia Yu
CALIFORNIA — Californians sentenced to seven years to life for murder have remained incarcerated for decades despite repeatedly becoming eligible for parole, according to an article by incarcerated journalist Kevin Sawyer examining the state’s treatment of people serving the indeterminate sentences.
Sawyer’s article, published by Inquest and republished by Solitary Watch through its Ridgeway Reporting Project, examines people sentenced under a former California law to seven years to life for murder.
Sawyer refers to this group of people as “7-Ups,” and there are about 191 people with this sentence for murder.
However, some of these people have not even committed murder, as before 2019, California had a felony-murder law that “allowed murder convictions for anyone who participated in a felony during which a death occurred, regardless of agency or intent.”
It is stated that anyone in the 7-Up group, more often than not, will end up serving for a much longer time. For instance, between 2000 and 2008, the parole board released only about 2% of the cases that came before it.
Sawyer states that “it has become nearly impossible for 7-Ups to receive a fair hearing before the parole board.”
In a rare case of the parole board granting release, the state governor could reject the decision, which happens more than 60% of the time. This power was approved by California voters in 1988, and governors have used it freely ever since.
For instance, in 2022, and again in 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed a decision allowing 78-year-old Patricia Krenwinkel, convicted of seven murders, to be released on parole.
In his article, Sawyer also highlights Bruce Davis, a “7-Up” member of the Manson Family who was convicted of a double murder, explaining that he has “appeared before the parole board 34 times – more than any other 7-Up” at age 83.
While he has been recommended for parole many times, state governors have rejected all of those recommendations.
Davis stated that while he may be trying for parole, he “doesn’t want justice. If [he] was given justice, they’d execute [him]. What [he] wants is mercy.”
Davis told Sawyer that because of this power being granted to the governor, it has hindered many people from receiving parole.
The article states that California has one of the lowest parole rates in the United States, behind Alabama and South Carolina. The reality is that many people sentenced to life have a very small chance of receiving parole.
In 2023, it was reported that a bill called Senate Bill 81 was introduced by California lawmakers, which would have “overturned a parole board denial if a court found evidence that a prisoner would not present a current, unreasonable risk of danger to others.”
However, Newsom vetoed the bill.
Because of this, the strong hold over parole decisions has escalated the crisis of aging in California’s prisons.
In Sawyer’s article, it is stated that aging in prisons has increased significantly: In 1999, only 3% of the prison population in California was over age 55. Now, it has increased to 22%.
Sawyer states that “about half of them have spent 50 or more years in custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).”
One such person who has been incarcerated for more than 50 years is Gregory “White Eagle” Coates, who is currently 68 years old.
In 2018, he was found “suitable for release on parole,” but due to a victims’ rights organization convincing Gov. Jerry Brown to reject the parole board’s decision, he has been kept in prison.
He went before the board again in October 2024 but was denied once more.
He will not be eligible for a parole hearing until he is 70.
Sawyer also states that for each person convicted and sentenced to seven years to life, there is “an estimated cost to taxpayers of about $6 million each.”
To comment please go to one of these social media platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisVanguard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peoples-vanguard-of-davis-inc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davisvanguard/
X: https://x.com/davisvanguard
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vanguardnewsgroup.bsky.social
Subscribe to the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
