In Re Player

In this matter, we are called upon to interpret several administrative regulations used by the prison authorities to award work-time behavioral credits/points which affect an inmate’s classification score and impact on his custody level and privileges within the prison system. Petitioner Marcus W. Player, who is serving a 31-year-to-life prison term for a 1983 murder/robbery case, has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the refusal of respondent Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) to grant him such points under title 15 of the California Code of Regulations, section 3375.4, subdivision (b)(4) for three six-month periods for which his work status classification was interrupted without his fault or for which his work status was reinstated because he had been exonerated of wrongdoing that had removed him from his work status. Player asked this court to order an appropriate reduction of his classification points on his annual reviews (AR’s) for 1996, 1997 and 2000, and based on his adjusted classification scores, that he be considered for a custody level reduction. We issued an order to show cause (OSC) and now grant the relief requested,…