The sudden rules change went into effect on Saturday after being approved by California's Office of Administrative Law on Thursday, giving prisoners increased early-release credits for good behavior. Among those affected are 20,000 inmates whose crimes were so severe that they were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Figures on the affected prisoners were provided to Associated Press by a California Department of Corrections spokesperson.

The lifers and others violent convicts will be able to earn credits that shorten their sentences by one-third, rather than the previous standard of one-fifth. The releases are expected to be played out in the coming months and years as sentences end earlier in a state that's already gripped by rising violent crime. For instance, homicides in Los Angeles jumped 38% last year to 349, the highest level in more than a decade, and are on pace in 2021 to surge a further 200%.

"I feel for the innocent children and women who were assaulted by those perps," one Twitter commenter said of the early parolees. "Did anyone have them in mind while making this decision.?"