Yosemite Lakes Park arsonist denied parole

The state’s Board of Parole Hearings has denied release to a man convicted of setting fires in the Yosemite Lakes Park area during the summer of 2013, the Madera County District Attorney’s Office announced today.

Kenneth Allen Jackson is serving a 30-year 8-month sentence at Solano State Prison. His wife, Alice Waterman, was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months of prison.

The board decided that Jackson posed “an unreasonable risk of violence to the community,” and noted in its decision Thursday, “Jackson’s commitment offenses held an entire community in fear and victimized a multitude of citizens for weeks on end. Jackson also demonstrated violence when he shoved the arresting officer in an attempt to escape capture.”

The district attorney’s office opposed Jackson’s release with a detailed letter on July 28 that accompanied 74 other letters of opposition from various victims, community leaders and other interested parties.

“We are one of very few counties to obtain a denial on a Proposition 57 release … Proposition 57, a previously unwritten law, was flawed since its inception and should never apply to a criminal such as Mr. Jackson,” said District Attorney David Linn.

Proposition 57 increased parole and good behavior opportunities for felons convicted of nonviolent crimes.