In Re Reed

The Board of Parole Hearings (Board) is charged with the responsibility for setting parole release dates for those prison inmates serving an indeterminate sentence and eligible for parole. Provisions of the Penal Code and title 15 of the California Code of Regulations govern the Board’s discretion in setting such dates. The Board must deny a parole release date when “in the judgment of the panel the prisoner will pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society . . . .” (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 15, § 2402, subd. (a); see also Pen. Code, § 3041, subd. (b).) We interpret the term “danger to society” so that it sensibly informs the Board’s suitability determination by permitting it to deny release to a life prisoner who has demonstrated a current unwillingness or inability to adhere to the reasonable conditions of parole. On that basis, the Board’s decision to deny parole to petitioner Gregory Dwayne Reed is supported by “some evidence,” and the petition for writ of habeas corpus is denied.

BACKGROUND

The Commitment Offense

According to the May 1995 probation report, “On the evening of October 24, 1984, into the early morning hours of October 25, 1984, [petitioner] and his…