California Supreme Court rules thousands of sex offenders in the state are eligible for early parole

The California Supreme ruled Monday that thousands of inmates convicted of nonviolent sex crimes are eligible for early release, the Associated Press reported.

The ruling was issued as the high court considered whether sex offenders should be excluded from Proposition 57, a voter-approved ballot measure passed in November 2016 aimed at reducing the state's prison population. The measure called for inmates sentenced for nonviolent felonies to be eligible for early parole consideration.

"The initiative's language provides no indication that the voters intended to allow the [Corrections] Department to create a wholesale exclusion from parole consideration based on an inmate's sex offense convictions when the inmate was convicted of a nonviolent felony," Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote in the court's unanimous decision.