June 2, 2019 California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Regulations and Policy Management Branch P.O. Box 942883 Sacramento CA 94283-0001
To Whom It May Concern, We are writing to you from Silicon Valley De-Bug, an organization that works with families with loved ones who are facing charges in the criminal justice, juvenile justice, and immigration systems to impact the outcomes of their cases through their active participation in their loved ones’ court cases. Our organization is part of a larger coalition of organizations who supported Proposition 57, from its conception to passage, from drafting to signature gathering, door knocking, and fundraising. We are a co-author of Proposition 57. In addition, partner organizations from the Participatory Defense Network across the state of California are also signing on to this letter. Silicon Valley De-Bug is commenting for the final period once again. Below are our comments. Immediate parole considerations for all individuals convicted of non-violent felonies and who are serving their sentences beyond the base terms of their prior offense. We could not help but to take notice that Prop 57 is still not fully implemented to all nor to the fullest intent of the initiative. For example, all individuals convicted of non-violent felonies who served their primary offense term were eligible for early parole consideration when Prop 57 passed in 2016. CDCR fought to delay implementation of the law, arguing that non-violent three strikers were not eligible. For two years, incarcerated individuals, their families, and justice advocates -- fought for CDCR to follow the law through litigation. Through the Edwards case, CDCR was then ordered to give parole consideration, but still delayed implementation again through CDCR’s two-tiered screening process. Another example is the case Tijue Adolphus Mcgee won last month when the Courts ruled that CDCR has no authority to deny individuals convicted of non-violent felonies early parole consideration due to in-custody conduct. Yet, with these court decisions, CDCR is still attempting to delay implementing the law. We have heard from individuals inside who have already served upward of 20 years and are being told by CDCR to wait until 12/31/2020 - making them by default, serve their 25 years before earning
their parole hearing. This further delays those who are eligible now but have not yet served their 20 years. Our incarcerated loved ones, our families, community and justice advocates should not have to wait. The law as overwhelmingly passed in 2016 by the voters clearly indicates that all individuals convicted of non-violent felonies could receive their early parole consideration after the base term is served -- not a day, a week, a month, or a year later. CDCR should not drag this out for years. Credits earned should be applied towards earlier parole consideration dates for individuals eligible for elder parole or youth offender parole. In addition, CDCR has placed restrictions on those inmates eligible for Elder Parole or for a Youth Offender Parole Hearing (YOP) from benefiting from Prop 57. CDCR does not consider a YOP hearing or an Elderly Parole Hearing date to be the “initial” date under Prop 57. This means that incarcerated people who are deemed eligible for early parole through YOP and Elderly Parole Programs can only earn credits towards their original parole hearing date. In practice, this penalizes this population and prevents people with YOP or an Elderly Parole Hearings from accessing the credit earning opportunities and rehabilitative programs created under Prop 57. This practice is opposite to the intent of Prop 57, which is to incentivize changes in behavior, reward those efforts, and help reduce the prison population. For young people in particular, it is also not in alignment with the current research on brain development that informs current best practices with youth, the very population most likely to show behavioral changes with early intervention. Limiting this opportunity to allow the earned credits to apply towards an earlier parole hearing takes a step backward, and is not the intent of Prop 57. We would like to reiterate once again the intent of Prop 57 listed below: • Allow individuals convicted with non-violent felonies to be eligible for parole consideration after completing the base term of their sentence, instead of the longer sentence imposed due to enhancements — such as prior conviction and gang enhancements which dramatically increase years of incarceration. • Provide credits for good behavior and participation in programs to go towards earned release. • Stop the direct filing of youth into the adult system. We hope you take our comments into consideration. Thank you. Benee Vejar Community Organizer benee@siliconvalleydebug.org
Jose Valle Community Organizer jose@siliconvalleydebug.org
Yolanda Ledesma Community Organizer yolanda@siliconvalleydebug.org
Christine Clifford Community Organizer c​hristine@siliconvalleydebug.org
Vonya Quarles Starting Over vonya.startingover@gmail.com
Marlene Sanchez CURYJ msanchez@curyj.org
Oscar Flores Reuniting families / All of us or none oscar@prisonerswithchildren
Sarait Escorza Participatory Defense of San Mateo County Sarait@siliconvalleydebug.org
val.faulkner29@gmail.com brittondamaris@yahoo.com momma-audrey59@gmail.com