There is a possibility that many of the nearly 9,000 Three-Strikers currently incarcerated in California will be eligible for parole in 2018. Many are asking what specific requirements the board is looking for in order to approve their release.
Executive Officer of the Board of Parole Hearings Jennifer Shaffer said people hoping to parole need to know who they were, who they are today and the difference between the two.
Hope for Strikers, San Quentin’s Three-Strike self-help group, held a forum on Oct. 10 that included Shaffer and Chief Counsel for the Board of Parole Hearings Howard E. Moseley.
Hope for Strikers is a support group that has adapted the 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous. One of the group’s objectives is to prepare inmates to meet the board successfully.
As the forum progressed, Shaffer made it clear that Three-Strikers coming before the board will be judged by the same standard as every lifer, i.e. whether they pose a current danger to public safety.
“I don’t think anything is different about these hearings,” Shaffer said. She explained that the board will be asking Three-Strikers the same questions they ask other lifers, and the board will want to see the same kind of growth in both violent and non-violent offenders.
“People hoping to parole need to know who they were, who they are today, and the difference between the two”
“Anger issues and substance abuse issues you haven’t addressed” are the things commissioners will look for, said Shaffer. Whether an offender is non-violent or violent, the same criminal thinking leads to crimes, and non-violent crimes can become violent crimes when situations unexpectedly spin out of control, she said.
Shaffer also answered questions about the recent court decisions capping California’s prison inmate population. “Do not come to us asking for projections on who we’re going to let out,” She said. “That’s not what we’re about. We take it case by case and don’t form policies with population reduction in mind.”
Shaffer said that all activities in which the men participate would affect board hearings, ranging from self-help groups addressing past behavior to rules violations while incarcerated.
Shaffer has given talks to prosecutors, community groups, inmate council groups and victims’ advocacy groups. She stated that her goal is to dispel conspiracy theories that the board has bias.
“To me, the biggest resource we have is our integrity.” Shaffer said. “We don’t have an interest in the outcome of our hearings other than that the hearings are fair, unbiased and that the decisions rendered can withstand judicial scrutiny.”
