URGENT ACTION ALERT: Submit Public Comments on the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program (CITP) to CDCR by March 8

URGENT ACTION ALERT: The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) will be proposing regulations for the Condemned Inmate Transfer Program, following an open public comment period that culminates in a public hearing in Sacramento on March 8, 2023. (Read more on the program here and proposed regulations here).

Individuals on San Quentin’s Death Row will be mandated to permanently move to other state prisons. This program will adversely affect many incarcerated people, their family, friends, and advocates, as well as local legal teams. Jarvis Jay Masters, who has been incarcerated at San Quentin for 41 years— and on Death Row for 32 years for a crime he did not commit—requests that his support community submit public comments to CDCR with the following talking points:

A mandatory transfer of all death-sentenced individuals would pose:
1) Undue hardship affecting prisoners’ mental and physical health;
2) Considerable safety concerns;
3) Undue hardship to the family and friends of prisoners in the Bay Area;
4) Undue hardship to local counsel;
5) Disruption to or delay of litigation in the courts;

Furthermore, the draft regulations lack clarity and transparency regarding: the timeline for the transfers, management of prisoners’ property and legal materials, mandatory work requirements, and the alternative of allowing those who wish to remain at San Quentin to do so.

See a sample letter here.

Members of the public can submit written comments no later than March 8, 2023 by mail to:
CDCR Regulation and Policy Management Branch
P.O. Box 942883
Sacramento, CA 94283-0001

or by e-mail to: RPMB@cdcr.ca.gov

 We recommend submission of comments by email. If you wish to submit via US mail or in person, we recommend that you also submit via email. Please be cordial and only submit comments directly related to the regulations. All other comments will be disregarded. Thank you for your advocacy.