In re Bean
This petition challenges a decision of California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) validating petitioner, prison inmate Anthony Bean, as an active member of the Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) prison gang. Prison regulations provide that a gang validation must be premised on three independent sources of information (“source itemsâ€) . (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 3378, subd. (c)(3).)[1] Although CDCR relied on four source items, two of the source items fail to meet the requirements of CDCR’s regulations. Specifically, one source item, a report from the “debriefing†of a prison gang member, fails to refer to “specific gang related acts or conduct†by petitioner, as required by section 3378, subdivision (c)(8)(M). Another source item, a book order form found in petitioner’s possession, is not supported by prison staff’s articulation of why, “based on either the explicit or coded content,†the written material is reliable evidence of association or membership with the gang, as required by section 3378, subdivision (c)(8)(C). Accordingly, we shall direct CDCR to vacate petitioner’s gang validation decision and to cease housing him based on that validation.
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