Nearly 23-hundred lifers have been paroled in California over the past five years. That's more than three times the number in the previous 17 years combined.
Governor Brown claims it has nothing to do with overcrowded prisons. Rather, recent court rulings make it harder to deny parole if inmates are no longer considered a risk to public safety.
Now, for the first time, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR, is offering classes aimed at lifers. Scott Shafer of the California Report has more.