The anticipated release of a convicted rapist and murderer found a district attorney expressing the view he believes all Californians share about the governor’s “desire to empty prisons.”
For years, the once-Golden State has operated under soft-on-crime policies that have left communities reeling. On top of the revolving door of recidivism, excessive efforts toward leniency for convicted criminals put California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in the hot seat over parole for a man serving a life sentence after raping and strangling Genevieve Adaline Moreno to death in 1974.
“I think the right thing would be to stop letting violent criminals out of our prisons just to satisfy his policy desire to empty prisons,” San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow told the California Post amid his fight against the release of 75-year-old Alberto Tamez Jr. “I can’t change the system he created without letting voters know how vulnerable they are by letting out dangerous criminals to empty prisons.”
“I think the governor should not be letting everyone out, but he’s made no bones about it,” added Dow.
Among a number of criminal-favoring policies, California’s 2014 Elderly Parole Program allows convicts over 50-years-old who’ve served more than 20 years of a sentence to make a case for parole.
Alberto Tamez Jr. will walk free after Newsom a/k/a Newscum decided NOT to intervene on a parole decision. Tamez convicted of viciously raping & strangling Genevieve Adaline Moreno in 1974 granted parole late last year despite San Luis Obispo County DA fought his release. pic.twitter.com/bDOmzWLPHI
— Woke is Bullshit! 🇺🇸🎗️ (@calrussell13) May 10, 2026
As previously reported, the policy allowed for the parole of a serial child molester, David Allen Funston, said to have admitted to still being attracted to children, a ruling that led the Placer County District Attorney to reintroduce a 30-year-old charge to keep the felon behind bars.
It took a serial child molester getting approved for release to wake up California lawmakers https://t.co/L1FoOiTBQ9
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) March 11, 2026
The Post noted another child molester, Gregory Lee Vogelsang, who was sentenced to 355 years to life for crimes committed against five boys, whose parole, granted in 2025, was reconsidered. The outlet also reported on the reversal of the release of Israel Ceja, sentenced to 139 years of incarceration for the repeated rape and molestation of his stepdaughter from the time she was 11-years-old. That decision was reversed, thanks in part to the effort of Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig.
“When you rape, strangle, brutalize and murder a woman — in my perspective and point of view — that should be the death penalty or life without parole,” expressed Dow, who also serves as president of the California District Attorneys Association. “When California reforms the system, policymakers focus on making it more compassionate for criminals while forgetting about the impact on victims. I think Californians are at a point where they have had enough.”
Claims from Newsom’s office that he lacks the ability to intervene also earned condemnation from Republican Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton. He told the Post, “I’m sick of hearing from Gavin Newsom that he has no power to intervene in these outrageous and disgusting decisions. That is total bullsh*t, and he knows it.”
Previously, Hilton fired back at Newsom’s social media, claiming the governor couldn’t act against decisions made by the Board of Parole, writing on X, “This is Gavin Newsom’s pathetic post, ducking responsibility. It is FALSE. The governor has the power to overrule the Parole Board. Parole Board members serve at the governor’s will. The governor runs the state prison system. But we have a governor too busy on his book tour to protect us from monsters like this. Despicable.”
This is Gavin Newsom’s pathetic post, ducking responsibility. It is FALSE. The governor has the power to overrule the Parole Board. Parole Board members serve at the governor’s will. The governor runs the state prison system. But we have a governor too busy on his book tour to… pic.twitter.com/qnmkFFbQir
— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) February 26, 2026
Amid the effort to maintain accountability, Dow’s office began using the phrase “criminal and victim justice system” as opposed to the traditional criminal justice system. “Continuing to call it the ‘criminal justice system’ overlooks the fact that every crime has a victim.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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