Editorial: County mistakes, not reform laws, allowed the alleged killer of a police officer to go free
The killing last year of Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer added some punch to what had become a sagging campaign to blame California's historic criminal justice reforms for an uptick in crime rates.
It was AB 109 "realignment," some argued, or perhaps Propositions 47 and 57, that led directly to the shooting of Boyer and another officer at the scene of a traffic accident on Feb. 20, 2017, allegedly at the hands of Michael Christopher Mejia.
A repeat violent offender, Mejia had cycled in and out of prison before being released in April 2016 - only to be arrested
