The Malevolent Content - CDC-128-A

The Malevolent Content - CDC-128-A
By Boston Woodard

You would think methods for disciplining a prisoner for violating a rule would be straight forward, adequate and most importantly, fair and honest. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Rules governing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) are codified in the California Code of Regulations (CCR) and the CDCR Departmental Operations Manual (DOM). Many of the rules are acutely vague and ambiguous leaving the door open for misuse and/or misinterpretation by prison staff.

CCR section 3312 “Disciplinary Methods” delineates the following step method for citing a prisoner who may have violated a rule:

#1 Verbal counseling may be used to remind a prisoner of rules or policy, usually for minor misconduct. #2 A “custodial counseling” chrono (chronological documentation) or CDC-128-A (is issued) if similar or minor misconduct recurs after verbal counseling. The CDC-128-A is placed in the prisoners “C-File” (central file) where it will remain always. #3 When a prisoner’s misconduct is believed to be a violation of law or is not minor in nature, it is reported on a form CDC-115; “Rules Violation Report” (RVR).

If this protocol disciplinary step process or progressive (bad or disruptive) behavior method was applied as intended, it could possibly help stay base behavior. Prisoners all over California know the disciplinary step system has been and is still one of the most abused processes behind prison walls with the exception of the prisoner’s appeals system (See “Appealing the Impossible,” http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/18/18500099.php ). Verbal counseling is often not used to warn a prisoner of possible forthcoming disciplinary action. The more serious CDC-115 is sometimes issued on a whim, clogging up an already overburdened, very expensive disciplinary system.

There are prison staff, guards and “free - staff” (plain clothed, e.g. teachers, maintenance workers, cooks, custodians, etc.) who use the step process reasonably as described in the rules. Some prison staff know how to communicate with prisoners in a non condescending manner which almost always concludes with a satisfactory outcome.

Other prison staff throughout the prison system deliberately disregard the disciplinary step system, and they do it with malevolent content. The misuses of the step system is wantonly damaging. Rather than initiate the verbal warning to a prisoner for a minor infraction, a more damaging CDC-128-A or CDC-115 is issued.

The most abused and harmful documentation (and many poisoners agree) that is placed in a prisoners C-File is the CDC-128-A chrono. The abuse of this official document is widespread. Repercussions caused from a CDC-128-A placed in a prisoner’s file can range from unfortunate to bad. It is a prerequisite to the more serious CDC-115 RVR and can be the deciding factor in some life prisoner’s parole hearing decision. Lifers could lose a parole date or be given a lengthy denial based on the content of a CDC-128-A, and stay locked up years past their prescribed release date, if the parole commissioners decide to use the CDC-128 chrono against the lifer. They often do.

Some of these lifers have been catastrophically effected by the presence of a CDC-128-A in their file. Some of these men and women spend many years, decades, jumping through every hoop queued in front of them in an attempt to change their lives for the better, to become productive, contributing members of society one day. All it takes at times to dash the hopes of a “programming” lifer is for a disgruntled prison staff to concoct a falsely crafted CDC-128-A counseling chrono and place it in a prisoners file.

The unfortunate difference between a CDC-128-A and a (supposedly) more serious CDC-115 is; with a CDC-115 a prisoner can call witnesses to a hearing, submit exculpatory evidence, and ask for an investigation into the alleged accusations and claims by the reporting employee. The prisoner can opt to utilize the “Inmate Appeals” system albeit being another corrupt system. Can’t win for losing. Just the way prison officials want it.

Some prison staff will dubiously seize the opportunity to generate a CDC-128-A after becoming disconcerted by a prisoner’s actions or comments. The presence of this spurious documentation in a central file can be addressed at all future classification hearings that determine the status of a prisoners housing, program, and assignment situation. Some men and women (prisoners) have been told that due to a CDC-128-A chrono in their files they are disallowed specific access to programs and/or jobs, years after the CDC-128-A was written. This method of punishment is anti-rehabilitation at its worse.

The CDC-128-A counseling chrono is a tool used more often than not as a vindictive method of retaliation by some prison staff, who do so with impunity. Many prison staff lack the necessary communication skills to appropriately and professionally work in close proximity with prisoners. When they feel threatened by their own inability to handle certain encounters regarding a prisoner’s actions, the indefensible CDC-128-A is used. This is not only harmful, it is a gross misuse and abuse of power and authority.

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Boston Woodard is a prisoner/journalist who has written for the San Quentin News, the Soledad Star and edited The Communicator. Boston is serving his sentence at the California Correctional Center (CCC) in Susanville Ca. Boston is not a life Prisoner.

You can read Boston’s earlier articles here:

When the Smoke Clears
Wednesday May 19th, 2010
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/05/19/18648373.php

SJRA-ADVOCATE ("This little newsletter")
Thursday Apr 29th, 2010
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/04/29/18646167.php

Autocratic Dregs (Abusing Power)
Monday Mar 29th, 2010
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/03/29/18643256.php

Indybay Journalist in “The Hole” for Writing Article about Prison Conditions
Wednesday Aug 5th, 2009
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/08/05/18614132.php

Zip Gun II
Tuesday Jun 16th, 2009
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/06/16/18602027.php

A Snow Job Is No Job : What’s in a Report?
Tuesday Jun 16th, 2009
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/06/16/18602020.php

Rogue Prison Staff: Breaking All The Rules
Thursday Apr 16th, 2009
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/16/18589746.php

Don’t Pick up the Soap
Saturday Aug 30th, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/30/18531160.php

It Ain’t So Funny When the Rabbit Has the Gun
Wednesday Aug 13th, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/13/18526131.php

Arts in Corrections
Tuesday Jul 1st, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/07/01/18512524.php

Appealing the Impossible
Sunday May 18th, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/05/18/18500099.php

Shake-Down
published: Wednesday Apr 23rd, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/23/18494693.php

Zip Gun
Published: Friday Apr 11th, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/11/18492221.php

The Shell Game
Published: Thursday Mar 27th, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/03/27/18488993.php

Medical Snafu, Ongoing Prison Problem
Published: Thursday Feb 14th, 2008
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/02/14/18479245.php

Parole Board Pillory
Published: Sunday Dec 16th, 2007
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/12/16/18467346.php

Hog-Tied (The Transferring of Sophanareth Sok)
Published: Thursday Oct 4th, 2007
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/04/18451787.php

Foreign National Prisoners, Targeted For Out-Of-State Transfers
Published: Saturday Sep 1st, 2007
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/09/01/18445270.php

H 0 R R I F I E D
Published: Sunday Aug 19th, 2007
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/08/19/18441509.php

Unacceptable Material
Published: Friday Jun 8th, 2007
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/08/18426088.php

The Parole Conundrum
Published: Monday Dec 18th, 2006
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/12/18/18338477.php