Staff Reports
California’s liberal rulers have outdone themselves again—unleashing a law so reckless it’s practically smashing the door wide open for violent criminals to roam free. This mental-health diversion law, snuck into a giant budget bill years ago, has become a catastrophic get-out-of-jail-free card for felons guilty of everything from child abuse to carjacking to attempted murder. And the worst part? The state doesn’t even keep track of who’s getting away with it or whether they ever face real consequences.
This law wasn’t publicly debated or voted on by the people. Instead, California’s lawmakers stuffed it inside a 900-page budget, tricking citizens while they quietly lowered the bar so criminals only have to claim some vague mental health issue to sweep their crimes under the rug. And not just any diagnoses qualify—they’ve broadened the definition to an absurd degree. Nearly anything can be called a “mental disorder,” from caffeine withdrawal to marijuana addiction. This means nearly every felon who wants out can find a way to game the system.
California law voters never approved lets violent criminals walk free — and no one’s tracking them https://t.co/MLOanixcVm via @BIZPACReview
— Misanthrope (@WhiteBwhite123) December 2, 2025
The system is a disgrace. Judges are basically forced to approve these diversions, unable to stop repeat offenders or so-called violent criminals from slipping through, while prosecutors struggle to catch up because the burden of proof is squarely on them—proving a defendant *isn’t* mentally ill is nearly impossible. Who thought this was a good idea? California’s so-called “progressive” lawmakers and special interest groups like the ACLU, who cheerlead this madness under the guise of “justice reform” and “compassion.” Meanwhile, the victims—the real victims—are left abandoned, forced to watch criminals walk free with their records wiped clean. Jobs as teachers or youth counselors are open to these predators now, no questions asked. It’s a sick joke on public safety.
Even worse, California politicians have baked in a deliberate cover-up by refusing to track who benefits from this system or how often they violate the law afterward. It’s no accident that nobody can tell you how many violent criminals have been released or reoffended. This is exactly the kind of shadowy bureaucracy that breeds crime and chaos. Jailhouse phones are buzzing with criminals strategizing their next mental health claim, knowing it’s a ticket out every time. This law has turned justice on its head, rewarding evil with sympathy and punishing victims by silencing their pain.
No one with a shred of common sense can defend this. Law enforcement officials in places like Sacramento and San Diego are sounding the alarm, begging for lawmakers to stop the insanity. They want serious crimes like child abuse and attempted murder excluded, and for judges to have the authority to keep dangerous criminals locked up. But the woke machine is deaf to reason, obsessed with protecting “rights” of criminals instead of the safety of law-abiding citizens. When you prioritize offenders over victims, society crumbles—and California is looking like the poster child for that failure.
This is the cost of extreme liberalism and unchecked political correctness: violent criminals set loose on the streets, communities terrorized, and innocent people paying with their lives. How long before other states follow this reckless path? When will voters finally wake up and demand that their lawmakers stop rolling out the red carpet for criminals? California’s experiment is a disaster with human lives on the line—and it’s high time the free world stops taking notes from the Golden State’s broken playbook.
