In Re Jenkins

Because of a transfer from Centinela State Prison to High Desert State Prison and a later transfer between facilities within High Desert, inmate Harvey Zane Jenkins spent more than half a year unassigned to a work, school, or vocational program. As a result, at his next annual classification review, he received only two of the four favorable classification points available for average or above-average performance in such a program. [1]

By way of a habeas corpus petition, Jenkins sought to compel the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the department) to award him the other two work/school performance points because the interruption in his work assignment was the result of a nonadverse transfer. [2] Following In re Player (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 813 [ 53 Cal.Rptr.3d 233 ], the superior court granted Jenkins relief based on the conclusion that because Jenkins was entitled to "S" time—i.e., "excused work time for purposes of calculating credit off of [his] sentence" ( id. at pp. 827-828)—for the time he was not assigned to a work program, he was also entitled to favorable classification points for average or above-average performance in a work, school, or…