Last year, Governor Jerry Brown approved parole for 377 prisoners convicted of murder, rejected another 91 recommendations for parole, and returned two cases to the Board of Parole Hearings for review.

That puts Brown's parole approval rating at over 80 percent for the second consecutive year, and on the opposite end of the spectrum from former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rejected most parole recommendations for murderers.

The statistics were part of a report issues Friday by the governor's office.

California law says the governor can only overturn parole recommendations for murderers still deemed a threat, and cannot measure that threat on just the heinousness of the original crime.