Uncommon Law

Policy: - Sponsored AB2310, the Parole Hearing Language Accessibility Act, requiring the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) to: translate essential documents into the give most commonly spoken languages among incarcerated individuals eligible for parole hearings; develop and publish bilingual glossaries of parole hearing terminology; and promulgate regulations establishing standards for interpreter qualifications, verifying interpreter credentials, and protocols for providing interpreter services during attorney visits. - Obtained a landmark dataset through a Public Records Act (PRA) to support deeper analysis of parole hearing outcomes from 2012 - 2024.

In-Prison Programming:- Graduated 42 participants from our 10-month Home After Harm, Pathways for Parole Success, along with three Peer Mentor graduates, and enrolled 80 new participants total at California State Prison, Los Angeles County (LAC) and Salinas Valley State Prison for graduations in 2025. From our graduates:100% understood the parole hearing process as a result of the program - 97% knew how to articulate and connect the events in their lives that led to incarceration - 100% understood how to demonstrate insight in my parole hearing - 97% knew how to mentally and emotionally prepare for my parole hearing - 95% reported an overall positive sense of well-being at the end of the program, and another 95% reported their overall sense of hope and outlook for the future is positive.- Completed seven intensive parole readiness workshops across six prisons with a total of 355 participants. From the workshop participants: - 98% of participants left the workshop with a better understanding of the Boards expectations - 90% of participants reported higher confidence in their ability to receive a parole grant