For example, the Legislature could increase the standard that must be metwhich is currently established through case law as some evidenceto a preponderance of evidence or clear and convincing evidence that a candidate poses a current risk. We also find that the Governor has significant discretion in being able to unilaterally overturn commissioners decisions for candidates convicted of murder. Potential Institutional Biases of Key Actors. In other words, even if most information suggests that a candidate is not dangerous, as long as one piece of information provides some evidence of possible of dangerousness, commissioners have the discretion to deny release. You may but are not required to submit additional information or copies of relevant documents in support of your application, such as letters of support or certificates of achievement. Lawrence Nwajei, 60, of Los Angeles, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served as Deputy Commissioner and Administrative Law Judge since 2020. She served as a Judge at the Kern County Superior Court, East Kern Division from 2001 to 2008. Of the 8,722 hearings that were scheduled to occur in 2021, candidates waived their hearing in 1,758(20percent) cases and stipulated to unsuitability in 301 (3percent) cases. There are two ways to apply for a pardon in California: a Certificate of Rehabilitation and a Direct Pardon. According to BPH, this was primarily because attorney pay had not kept up with the increasing amount of work that attorneys must do on each caselargely due to more requirements related to documenting a candidates disability accommodation needs. If a judge granted you a Certificate of Rehabilitation before January 2019, and you did not receive notice of a pardon grant, your application is deemed closed. In some cases, programs are explicitly designed to incorporate hearing preparation services. Similarly, it could mean that parole candidates who are unconsciously associated with positive attributes are being released from prison at a higher rate than justified by their assessed level ofrisk. Certain People With Determinate Sentences. This data would help the Legislature, BPH, and stakeholders better monitor the parole decisionmaking process for any potential disparities. Michael Ruff, 55, of Sacramento, has been reappointed to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2017. Parole Rehearing One possible decision of the Parole Board at the parole hearing can be to deny parole. She is challenging the governor's reversal as an "abuse of discretion," a denial of Sirhan's constitutional right to due process and as a violation of California law. Box 942883 Sacramento, Potentially Inequitable Access to Effective Legal and Hearing Preparation Services. This is because attorneys received a relatively significant increase in compensation if a case proceeded to the hearingstage. Discretion Afforded to Other Key Actors. Copyright 2023 California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services (OVSRS), AB 898: Fire Department Notification Registration, Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP): Crescent City, CA, High Desert State Prison (HDSP): Susanville, CA, California Medical Facility (CMF): Vacaville, CA, San Quentin State Prison(SQ): San Quentin, CA, California Health Care Facility (CHCF): Stockton, CA, Valley State Prison (VSP): Chowchilla, CA, Correctional Training Facility (CTF): Soledad, CA, Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP): Coalinga, CA, North Kern State Prison (NKSP): Delano, CA, California Mens Colony (CMC): San Luis Obispo, CA, California City Correctional Facility (CAC): California City, CA, California Institution for Men (CIM): Chino, CA, Ironwood State Prison (CAL): Calipatria, CA, Calipatria State Prison (CAL): Calipatria, CA, Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJD): San Diego, CA. The number of years until a candidates next parole hearing is often referred to as the denial period.. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine School of Law. If clear and convincing evidence is required, then decisions to deny release would need to be backed by evidence showing that candidates are substantially more likely to be an unreasonable risk to public safety than not. It is possible that some of the above disparities are driven by actual differences in risk of violence between the two groups. He served as a Commissioned Officer and Staff Attorney for the U.S. Coast Guard from 1992 to 2009. California law requires Certificate of Rehabilitation applicants to provide notice to the Governors Office when they file a petition for Certificate of Rehabilitation. OMeara has beenRegional Mental Health Administratorat the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation since2012, where she has served in several positions since 2006, including Chief Psychologist and Senior Psychologist Specialist at the California Medical Facility. She said that will be the main point she and Sirhan will make to the board, again. Sharrieff was a Hearing Officer for the City of Los Angeles Administrative Citation Enforcement Program from 2015 to 2016 and for the City of Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority in 2015. People with LWOP sentences are not eligible for parole hearings, with the exception of those who received an LWOP sentence for a crime they committed while under 18 years of age. The Board of Parole Hearings investigates pardon applications for the Governors Office. David B. Purcell was a Judicial Attorney Clerk for the Honorable Malcolm M. Lucas at the California Supreme Court from 1985 to 1986 and a Registered Nurse for the Los Angeles County Mens Central Jail from 1981 to 1982. There were 8,722 parole hearings scheduled to occur in 2021. Kennedy," who Newsom has cited as a political hero. In addition, while there have been a few limited studies done at the discretion of external researchers, there is no regular external monitoring of the extent to which there are differences in release rates between groups that are likely the result of bias in the parole hearing process. Parole Unit Office Probation Services (530) 662-4977 814 Court St Woodland, CA 95695 4. We further recommend using the results of this assessment to inform whether future legislative action is needed. In many other cases, programs do not explicitly focus on parole candidates, yet nevertheless incorporate elements that may help candidates prepare for their parole hearings. For example, a 2015 survey of state parole boards and the U.S. Parole Commission (which makes release decisions about federal prisoners) found that while a majority of parole boards reported incorporating some form of risk assessment into their decisionmaking process, there was substantial variation between jurisdictions in the specific assessments used. Grounds held several positions at the Correctional Training Facility, Soledad from 2009 to 2012, including warden and acting warden. Dobbs was an Attorney and Sole Practitioner at the Law Office of Dianne R. Dobbs from 2006 to 2007 and an Attorney for Sacramento Child Advocates Inc. from 2003 to 2005. Ruff is a Democrat. She held several positions at the Northern California Youth Correctional Center in the Division of Juvenile Justice from 1991 to 2005, including Lieutenant and Sergeant. If you submitted a direct pardon application to a past Governor and you did not receive notice of a pardon grant, your application is deemed closed. Catherine Purcell, 65, of Vallejo, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings. Minor was Program Administrator at the Stockton Training Center from 2005 to 2009. Pardon Application by Certificate of Rehabilitation:One way to apply for a pardon is to first petition for and obtain a Certificate of Rehabilitation from the superior court in the county where the applicant lives. Finally, we reviewed various research studies on parole in California and other states and observed parole hearings. For example, transgender people tend to face a high risk of victimization in prison. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $166,306. If the commissioners do not agree on a decision, cases are referred to a review by a majority of the boards 21appointedcommissioners. Victims or their representatives, as well as prosecutors from the county that committed the candidate to prison, may choose to attend and speak at the parole hearing. Long, 56, of Tehachapi, has been reappointed Commissioner to the Board of Parole Hearings, where he has served since 2018. In addition, the assessment could include surveying and/or interviewing parole candidates about their experience with stateappointed attorneys, auditing stateappointed attorneys to assess whether or not they are meeting minimal requirements (such as attending meetings with their clients), as well as collecting measures of the effectiveness of legal services (such as through observations of attorney performance during parole hearings). Gutierrez was chief of the Court Services Division and Hispanic affairs executive at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department from 2016 to 2018 and served in several other positions there from 1998 to 2015, including commander and captain of the Century Regional Detention Facility and lieutenant, sergeant and detective. For example, programs often attempt to help participants gain insight into the effects of past traumas on their lives, take accountability for their actions, and build healthy coping skills. BPH appoints and pays for an attorney for candidates who do not retain a private attorney. Inaddition to parole commissioners, various other actors in the parole hearing process maintain substantial discretion. As discussed above, parole process and outcome data raise concerns that candidates who rely on stateappointed attorneys may be receiving fewer and/or less effective legal and hearing preparation services than those who are able to retain private attorneys. As discussed above, UnCommon Laws pilot project is currently underway. Please read the attached Youth Offender Parole guide (published by the Fair Sentencing for Youth Coalition and Human Rights Watch). Her father remembers Placer County Sheriff's detectives, accompanied by a chaplain, arriving at the family's Christian Valley home at 11 p.m. that evening to deliver the news that no parent should ever have to hear. To ensure equitable access to effective legal and hearing preparation services, we recommend that the Legislature first assess the impact of recent changes intended to improve service quality. Case law requires that the Governors decision to reverse a grant of parole be based on some evidence that the candidate would pose an unreasonable risk to the public. She served as Senior Staff Counsel and Attorney II at the Department of Consumer Affairs from 2007 to 2017. Please enter valid email address to continue. Third, commissioners retain full discretion in how to weight the various factors that they choose to consider to produce a decision on whether to grant release. Garland has been Senior Assistant Attorney General at the Office of the Attorney General since 2006, where she was Supervising Deputy Attorney General from 2003 to 2006 and Deputy Attorney General from 1996 to 2002. Specifically, the report should include information about (1)how many people (and at what prisons) each program serves, (2)how many parole candidates (as opposed to all incarcerated people) the program has served or intends to serve, (3)the program cost per participant, (4)what types of hearing preparation services the program provides, (5)whether the hearing preparation services address the needs of any specific subpopulations such as transgender and nonbinary candidates, and (6)any information available about the effectiveness of the program model or the program itself in providing hearing preparation services. Without access to these services, such a candidate could be inequitably denied release due to their history of victimization in prison. Whilenot the focus of this report, we note that BPH has various other responsibilities, such as advising the Governor on applications for clemency. He served as a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force from 1982 to 1985. On the other hand, discretion allows decisions to be influenced by the idiosyncrasies, values, or conscious or unconscious biases of decision makers. Potential Cognitive Biases of Key Actors. Scheduling of Hearing. For example, candidates with a better chance of release may be more willing to pay for an attorney. GovernorNewsom Announces Appointments 2.28.23, Governor Newsom Marks End of Californias COVID-19 State of Emergency, Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta and CPPA File Letter Opposing Federal Privacy Preemption, GovernorNewsom Announces Appointments 2.24.23, 6 Ways California is Capturing & Storing Water from Storms. Specifically, BPH does not publish data on the outcomes of scheduled hearings (including grants, denials, waivers, and stipulations) disaggregated by candidate subgroups, such as race or ethnicity. These tend to include ensuring that candidates procedural rights are protected, objecting to factual errors or legal issues, and making a closing statement during the hearing to argue why candidates are suitable for parole. About four months before their hearing, candidates are generally interviewed by a BPH psychologist to assess their longterm potential for future violence as well as factors that could minimize their risk of violence if released. Depending on their crime and criminal history, people in prison have one of four types of sentences: (1)death, (2)life without the possibility of parole (LWOP), (3)indeterminate, and (4)determinate. As discussed earlier in this report, sentencing frameworks are often characterized as either determinate or indeterminate. Public comment may also be emailed to BPHEXE.BRDMEETING@cdcr.ca.gov. Reinforcement of Other Biases in the Process. Garcia is a Democrat. Long is a Republican. If you have a hearing scheduled, but do not see your SPB Case Number, please feel free to contact us: SPB Appeals Division Telephone: (916) 653-5505 and Forexample, to the extent that the parole hearing process could inequitably disadvantage certain candidates, it would mean that the state is paying to continue to incarcerate them without a public safety need to do so. Julie Garland, 58, of San Diego, has been appointed to the Board of Parole Hearings. Discretion could be limited in all cases or just for those who meet certain criteria, such as having been assessed by BPH psychologists to be low risk or remaining discipline free for five years. Parole hearings are generally scheduled within six months of the persons parole eligibility date. The parole board hearing comes nearly six months after Berry asked a Los Angeles County judge to reverse Newsom's denial. For example, as previously mentioned, all CRAs must be reviewed by a senior psychologist, which, in turn, likely promotes consistency in the assessment of a candidates risk of violence. Daniel Bezemer and Justine Vanderschoot had dinner with her parents before going out. Purcell was an Attorney at the Law Offices of Terry M. Giles from 1987 to 1989 and an Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher from 1986 to 1987. The purpose of the states parole hearing process is to decide if these people can be releasedbased on a determination of whether they pose an unreasonable risk to the public. Specifically, of the parole hearings that were scheduled to occur in 2021, candidates who were represented by stateappointed attorneys were granted parole at around half the rate of those represented by private attorneys. It is possible that key actors may be influenced by their institutional context. In 2019, BPH reported difficulty attracting and retaining competent attorneys and indicated that it had to reprimand or even discontinue appointing some attorneys for providing inadequate representation. WebQuestions? During hearings, commissioners ask candidates questions about their social history, past and present mental state, past and present attitude toward their crime, and plans for work and housing if they are released. Message From the Parole Board Chair Welcome to your Colorado Board of Parole web-site. While these practices likely promote quality and consistency in parole decisionmaking, as well as seek to limit the potential for bias, we find that the current process does not adequately provide safeguards on the use of discretion. This can lead them into fighting to defend themselves from those victimizing them, which can be interpreted and recorded by prison staff as misconduct. 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