The proposed regulations will make the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program permanent and mandatory in compliance with the voter-approved Proposition 66
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) this week filed proposed regulations to the Office of Administrative Law to make the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program (CITP) permanent.
CDCR implemented a two-year pilot program from Jan. 29, 2020, through Jan. 29, 2022 pursuant to Proposition 66, to test and evaluate the effectiveness of the program. In November 2016, California voters passed Proposition 66, which amended California’s Penal Code to require death-sentenced people to work so they can pay restitution to their victims. Proposition 66 also increased the restitution deduction for people sentenced to death from 50 to 70 percent. Under the pilot program, 101 death-sentenced people previously housed at San Quentin State Prison (SQ) were transferred to designated institutions and 10 death-sentenced people at Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) were transferred to alternate housing units at the prison.
In addition to making the CITP permanent, the proposed regulations will make transfers of condemned inmates mandatory. Transfers of death-sentenced individuals to other prisons allows CDCR to phase out the practice of segregating people on death row based solely on their sentence. This is consistent with CDCR’s move toward a behavior-based system where incarcerated people are housed according to their individual case factors, behavior and other needs. No one will be re-sentenced as a result of these housing moves, and everyone will be housed according to their individual case factors in appropriate custody-level prisons.
CDCR’s submission of these proposed regulations are part of the rulemaking process pursuant to the state’s Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The process is designed to provide the public with a meaningful opportunity to participate in the adoption of state regulations and mandates a minimum 45-day initial public comment period which will be held from January 20, 2023, through March 8, 2023. CDCR has scheduled a public hearing on March 8, 2023.
Members of the public can submit written comments by mail to CDCR, Regulation and Policy Management Branch, P.O. Box 942883, Sacramento, CA 94283-0001 or by e-mail to RPMB@cdcr.ca.gov.
As of Jan. 11, there are 671 (650 males, 21 females) people sentenced to death. Information about capital punishment can be found here: https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/.
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