In re ROY BUTLER Decision: Does it help LIFERs? (BASE TERM CALCULATION)

In re ROY BUTLER  (12/16/13)  --   Case Nos. A139411 & A137273
Alameda County Case No. 91694B

In summary, the BUTLER Court forces the Parole Board to calculate the base term of life prisoners at their Initial Hearings. Thus, the BUTLER case section that will apply to all LIFERs is the Base Term Calculation as ORDERed by the Court. Regardless of whether the LIFER will be found suitable or not, once the LIFER walks out of the Parole Hearing Board room, he will have a Base Term calculation for his specific crime under his specific circumstance, as defined below. If this is a subsequent Parole hearing, s/he will also be provided their Base Term, at that hearing.

The BIG QUESTION: How is the CASE  going to affect the time served by LIFERS?

According to BPH Executive Director Jennifer Shaffer and Chief Legal Counsel Howard Moseley ------ NO CHANGES will occur for the length of time incarcerated.

On the other hand, Attorney Diane Letarte would argue that once the Calculation is done at the Hearing (on the record for possible Appeals) and the BASE TERM has been exceeded,  the Panel (2-3 Commissioners at the Hearing) must articulate the reason for a denial beyond the Base Term in a non-arbitrary fashion. The Panel should be held to the Arbitrary-and-Capricious standard. Any action less than this standard would violate the Due Process of the Law and fail to provide a reasoned explanation for the denial.NOTE: YOPH Youth and Elderly parole hearings do NOT have a base term calculation done at the end of their hearings because if granted Parole, they are immediately release after the 150 days review period, regardless of the base terms.

The News Media links are below: San Francisco, Sacramento,  Los Angeles:

Click here for San Francisco 's version
Click Here for LA 's version
Click Here for Sacramento' s Version

Below is an excerpt of the ORDER. Paragraphs 3, will require the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH), via the Executive Officer Jennifer Shaffer, to announce NEW policies (and/or Directives) that will force the Commissioners to calculate the base term for all LIFER inmates during their hearing regardless of whether they are found suitable. This tern calculation was refused to be done by the Board for many years. It is encouraging to see the changes  in favor of the LIFER population.

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IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. ...

2. Upon issuance of a decision from this Court in Case No.
X137273, whether favorable or unfavorable to petitioner, the terms of
settlement for Case No. A139411, as described below, will become
effective immediately.

3. The Board shall, at the next publicly noticed Board meeting,
announce a policy of calculating the base term and the adjusted base term
for all life term inmates at the initial parole consideration hearing. The
Board will implement phis policy on faze first day of the calendar month
following the aforementioned meeting.