Ballard

FACTS

Ballard is an inmate at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (CSATF) at the Corcoran State Prison. In December 2010, Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) representative Joseph Muga completed and signed a BPH form titled “LIFE PRISONER: DOCUMENTATION HEARING (BPH §2269.1).” The form listed Ballard’s offenses as violations of Penal Code sections 459 (burglary) and 487, subdivision (d) (grand theft; taking an automobile or firearm) and stated the CDCR received Ballard in April 2002. The second page of the form included a section stating that the panel made evaluation and recommendations at Ballard’s initial parole hearing after reviewing with him the facts that might be of concern. Two of the seven topics

2. addressed in the evaluation and recommendations section of the form were vocational training and academics. The form addressed vocational training by noting that Ballard had not started or completed any such training while in CDCR’s custody and recommending that “he complete two or more vocations which will make him marketable in the community.” The form addressed academics by noting Ballard’s statements that (1) he would soon take a general educational development…