100 signatures reached
To: California State Assembly/Senate/Governor
Amend the 13th Community Release Board Campaign Petition
PETITION FOR COMMUNITY RELEASE BOARD
We the People of the State of California request that Penal Code sections 5070-5081 and 4800-4813 be modified to include the following language:
*Prisoners Serving an Indeterminate sentence who have reached their Minimum Eligible Release Date (MERD) and been denied parole by the BPH will have their parole consideration cases transfered to their Communities CRB for consideration.
*Community Release Boards (CRB) will be composed of nine Board members from the Community which the subject considered for parole comes from. This will include a Chairperson, Vice-chairmperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary and 5 additional members.
*The CRB will have the authority to parole imprisoned citizens within an agreed upon number of years not to exceed five (5) years, subject to Governor's Review (GRR).
*After 5 years the CRB will have sovereign authority to grant parole to the subject.
*Parolees granted parole under the CRB will be supervised by the Community Parole Agency (CPA), except those prisoners classified as High Risk. Those considered High Risk will be supervised by the state Parole Department. The CPA will monitor the supervision and conduct of any parole revocation hearings.
*The state will contract with the CRB for costs sufficient to cover the selection, salary, facilities, logistics and infrastructure necessary for the CRB to carry out it's function.
*CRB Member Candidates will be trained in accordance with the CRB proposal document. [See attached]
*CRB parole decisions will be base on: the sentence given; when the committed offense occured; the average time in custody; any additional convictions while in custody; confirmed service and positive contributions to the Community, and society at large, while incarcerated; mental health evaluations conducted by unbiased psychiatric care professionals to include whether the subject understands right from wrong.
*The CRB aims to release as many prisoners who have served their sentence or sufficient time in prison, demonstrating rehabilitation by not endangering public safety.
My signature hereon certifies my wish that the above modifications to the California Penal Code be made immediately upon the ratification of the minimum number of signitures to pass the Ballot Initiative.
The function of true "Justice" in any society is the upholding of human rights transfered to a common power apex through the mutual agreement of the People's subject to the mechanisms of that Justice. The historic legacy of economically exploiting human bondage in the United States stretches in an unbroken line from the chattel slavery era, to the perpetuation of slavery beyond Reconstruction in the exception clause of the 13th Amendment, on to the industrialization of prisons and imprisonment we know today as mass incarceration.
Sponsored by Amend the 13th: Abolish Legal Slavery in Amerika Movement
We the People of the State of California request that Penal Code sections 5070-5081 and 4800-4813 be modified to include the following language:
*Prisoners Serving an Indeterminate sentence who have reached their Minimum Eligible Release Date (MERD) and been denied parole by the BPH will have their parole consideration cases transfered to their Communities CRB for consideration.
*Community Release Boards (CRB) will be composed of nine Board members from the Community which the subject considered for parole comes from. This will include a Chairperson, Vice-chairmperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary and 5 additional members.
*The CRB will have the authority to parole imprisoned citizens within an agreed upon number of years not to exceed five (5) years, subject to Governor's Review (GRR).
*After 5 years the CRB will have sovereign authority to grant parole to the subject.
*Parolees granted parole under the CRB will be supervised by the Community Parole Agency (CPA), except those prisoners classified as High Risk. Those considered High Risk will be supervised by the state Parole Department. The CPA will monitor the supervision and conduct of any parole revocation hearings.
*The state will contract with the CRB for costs sufficient to cover the selection, salary, facilities, logistics and infrastructure necessary for the CRB to carry out it's function.
*CRB Member Candidates will be trained in accordance with the CRB proposal document. [See attached]
*CRB parole decisions will be base on: the sentence given; when the committed offense occured; the average time in custody; any additional convictions while in custody; confirmed service and positive contributions to the Community, and society at large, while incarcerated; mental health evaluations conducted by unbiased psychiatric care professionals to include whether the subject understands right from wrong.
*The CRB aims to release as many prisoners who have served their sentence or sufficient time in prison, demonstrating rehabilitation by not endangering public safety.
My signature hereon certifies my wish that the above modifications to the California Penal Code be made immediately upon the ratification of the minimum number of signitures to pass the Ballot Initiative.
The function of true "Justice" in any society is the upholding of human rights transfered to a common power apex through the mutual agreement of the People's subject to the mechanisms of that Justice. The historic legacy of economically exploiting human bondage in the United States stretches in an unbroken line from the chattel slavery era, to the perpetuation of slavery beyond Reconstruction in the exception clause of the 13th Amendment, on to the industrialization of prisons and imprisonment we know today as mass incarceration.
Sponsored by Amend the 13th: Abolish Legal Slavery in Amerika Movement
Why is this important?
We the Indeterminate Sentence Class of the state of California declare, that the policy of the California Board of Parole Hearings to deny release to those of our Class long beyond Our base terms until we are infirmed, chronically ill or dead constitutes a violation of Our inalienable right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" guaranteed under U.S. law.
Cannon to U.S. Law is the inalienable right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", however this inalienable 'right' is routinely denied to the indeterminately sentenced Prisoner class in the U.S. in general, and the state of California in particular. As a matter of policy, the Board of Parole Hearings denies parole to members of the Indeterminate Class far beyond they're base term, even when it is clear they are no threat to public safety, completely divorcing this crucial component of corrections (parole) from the inalienable rights of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' promised to all under U.S. law. Once so sentenced, the economic interests of the U.S. Prison Industrial Slave-Complex take precedence over these so-called "rights". Indeterminate Sentence Class Prisoners are denied parole, repeatedly for the most facile reasons until they either die, are killed or are so sick, old and infirmed that there is no quality of life to speak of. In case after case, most can barely walk, let alone pursue happiness of any meaningful sort. Of the many mechanisms of the U.S. judicial machinery and PISC presiding over this denial of rights, the single most influential body in this process is THE BOARD OF PAROLE HEARINGS.
Though the 21 Commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings are selected by the Governor and confirmed by the state Senate, it is the political lobbying of the CCPOA, the plethora of corporations that hold contracts for prisons and their special interest groups which influence the election of members of the Senate, and all to often the Governors office itself, thus holding sway over the composition of Parole Boards themselves. Parole Board members have a strong economic motivation to maintain this racket. However, even more disturbing-and central to this argument- is the overt dehumanization of the Indeterminate Sentence Class by both Parole Boards and correctional administrators necessary to deny us the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' year after year. This process of dehumanization, perhaps more than anything else, demonstrates why it is essential that new mechanisms for determining parole grants and suitability must be pursued by the People.
Current parole boards are composed of former police, district attorneys, former judges and other law enforcement professionals who do NOT live, work and in most instances have never seen the Communities from which those subject to their decisions come from. Those who are the greatest stakeholders in who is released and when, are the Communities who have the greatest insight into the subjects up for parole, and the unique conditions there which gave rise to the subject being considered for release. Basic logic dictates it is the Community who should be vested with the power to parole, pardon or grant clemency to those, who in their determination, have served their time, and/or would have a positive impact on their Communities and society as a whole if released.
We should all be disturbed that the U.S., and the state of California in particular, have presided over the single largest prison population on Earth, with policies of mass incarceration which have devastated poor Communities across America, fractured family units, exacerbated generational poverty and facilitated the school to poverty to prison pipeline, even though crime rates have been on a steady decline over the past 25 years. It doesn't make us safe, diverts money from viable Initiatives that could and enriches a exclusive industry at the expense of Our entire society.
With this in mind, we call for the creation and implementation of the Community Release Board, giving Our Communities the ultimate say in determining when our imprisoned neighbors will be reintegrated back into Our Communities.
The CRB will ensure the right to "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" guaranteed to all is actually afforded to all.
The CRB will contribute to curing California's inability to operate its prisons within their designed population capacity, absent federal oversight, and reduce capacity where it is above 100 percent, preventing the unnecessary combustible consequences of overcrowding. The CRB will ensure the implementation of a practical parole program guided by a prisoners base term and diluting the dependency on the manipulated opinions of prison industrialists.
The CRB will contribute to shrinking the CDCR's budget by resisting taking at face -value future behavior predictors colored by hidden prison politics and Institutional biases.
The CRB will serve as an alternate board to the BPH for all indeterminate life prisoners, including those prisoners who have LWOP sentences, and have served 20 years of their sentence. It is of note, that according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, those who have served 20 years or more of continuous confinement or are 50 years or older, have a .015% recidivism rate. This virtually non-existent recidivism rate, makes subjects under CRB parole consideration perhaps the safest cohort of Prisoners that can be considered for release.
It will guard against cultural biases by the BPH and act as a hedge to impede private prison profiteers, labor aristocracies (i.e., Prison Guard Unions, CCPOA, etc.) and bought off politicians from continuing to use the criminalization of Our Communities to write their own checks.
For these reasons, we respectfully request the adoption of Community Parole Boards.
Cannon to U.S. Law is the inalienable right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", however this inalienable 'right' is routinely denied to the indeterminately sentenced Prisoner class in the U.S. in general, and the state of California in particular. As a matter of policy, the Board of Parole Hearings denies parole to members of the Indeterminate Class far beyond they're base term, even when it is clear they are no threat to public safety, completely divorcing this crucial component of corrections (parole) from the inalienable rights of 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' promised to all under U.S. law. Once so sentenced, the economic interests of the U.S. Prison Industrial Slave-Complex take precedence over these so-called "rights". Indeterminate Sentence Class Prisoners are denied parole, repeatedly for the most facile reasons until they either die, are killed or are so sick, old and infirmed that there is no quality of life to speak of. In case after case, most can barely walk, let alone pursue happiness of any meaningful sort. Of the many mechanisms of the U.S. judicial machinery and PISC presiding over this denial of rights, the single most influential body in this process is THE BOARD OF PAROLE HEARINGS.
Though the 21 Commissioners of the Board of Parole Hearings are selected by the Governor and confirmed by the state Senate, it is the political lobbying of the CCPOA, the plethora of corporations that hold contracts for prisons and their special interest groups which influence the election of members of the Senate, and all to often the Governors office itself, thus holding sway over the composition of Parole Boards themselves. Parole Board members have a strong economic motivation to maintain this racket. However, even more disturbing-and central to this argument- is the overt dehumanization of the Indeterminate Sentence Class by both Parole Boards and correctional administrators necessary to deny us the right to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' year after year. This process of dehumanization, perhaps more than anything else, demonstrates why it is essential that new mechanisms for determining parole grants and suitability must be pursued by the People.
Current parole boards are composed of former police, district attorneys, former judges and other law enforcement professionals who do NOT live, work and in most instances have never seen the Communities from which those subject to their decisions come from. Those who are the greatest stakeholders in who is released and when, are the Communities who have the greatest insight into the subjects up for parole, and the unique conditions there which gave rise to the subject being considered for release. Basic logic dictates it is the Community who should be vested with the power to parole, pardon or grant clemency to those, who in their determination, have served their time, and/or would have a positive impact on their Communities and society as a whole if released.
We should all be disturbed that the U.S., and the state of California in particular, have presided over the single largest prison population on Earth, with policies of mass incarceration which have devastated poor Communities across America, fractured family units, exacerbated generational poverty and facilitated the school to poverty to prison pipeline, even though crime rates have been on a steady decline over the past 25 years. It doesn't make us safe, diverts money from viable Initiatives that could and enriches a exclusive industry at the expense of Our entire society.
With this in mind, we call for the creation and implementation of the Community Release Board, giving Our Communities the ultimate say in determining when our imprisoned neighbors will be reintegrated back into Our Communities.
The CRB will ensure the right to "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" guaranteed to all is actually afforded to all.
The CRB will contribute to curing California's inability to operate its prisons within their designed population capacity, absent federal oversight, and reduce capacity where it is above 100 percent, preventing the unnecessary combustible consequences of overcrowding. The CRB will ensure the implementation of a practical parole program guided by a prisoners base term and diluting the dependency on the manipulated opinions of prison industrialists.
The CRB will contribute to shrinking the CDCR's budget by resisting taking at face -value future behavior predictors colored by hidden prison politics and Institutional biases.
The CRB will serve as an alternate board to the BPH for all indeterminate life prisoners, including those prisoners who have LWOP sentences, and have served 20 years of their sentence. It is of note, that according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, those who have served 20 years or more of continuous confinement or are 50 years or older, have a .015% recidivism rate. This virtually non-existent recidivism rate, makes subjects under CRB parole consideration perhaps the safest cohort of Prisoners that can be considered for release.
It will guard against cultural biases by the BPH and act as a hedge to impede private prison profiteers, labor aristocracies (i.e., Prison Guard Unions, CCPOA, etc.) and bought off politicians from continuing to use the criminalization of Our Communities to write their own checks.
For these reasons, we respectfully request the adoption of Community Parole Boards.