California Code of Regulations › Title 15 - Crime Prevention and Corrections › Division 2 - Board of Parole Hearings › Chapter 1 - General › Article 4 - Public Participation › Section 2032 - Television and Radio Coverage of Parole Hearings

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
				  General. Representatives of television and radio stations may attend individual
				  case hearings.
(b) Television and
				  radio coverage of Board of Prison Terms' parole hearings will be authorized,
				  unless such coverage would create a risk to the security of an institution,
				  obstruct the hearing process, pose a risk to the personal safety of any person,
				  or have the potential for prejudicing judicial proceedings, and subject to the
				  following provisions:
(1) Access to
				  Institutions. Access to Department of Corrections' institutions and local
				  county jails shall be governed by the rules of the Director of Corrections or
				  the local county sheriff notwithstanding any provisions contained in these
				  rules.
(2) Request for Television
				  or Radio Coverage of Parole Hearings. All requests for coverage of parole
				  hearings shall be made to the executive officer of the board no later than
				  three working days before the hearing. Requests to attend life prisoner parole
				  hearings may be submitted no earlier than two working days after the date of
				  issuance of the monthly notice of life prisoner hearings. The request shall
				  specify the name of the prisoner for whom the hearing will be conducted.
				  Requests for coverage on a blanket basis will not be honored. Persons whose
				  requests are not timely will not be considered for entry into the hearing room
				  or for participation in the pooling arrangement.
(3) Decisions to Authorize Television and
				  Radio Coverage of Parole Hearings. The executive officer of the board may
				  authorize television and radio coverage of parole hearings.
(A) The executive officer of the board will
				  grant authorization for television and radio coverage of a parole hearing to
				  the station or network representative who makes the earliest request. Timely
				  requests from more than one station or network will require the establishment
				  of a pooling arrangement. If space limitations prevent the presence of both
				  television and radio personnel in the hearing room, preference will be given to
				  television personnel because of television's need for video equipment. Any
				  television station or network given such preference will provide pooling
				  services to any television or radio personnel denied entry to the hearing
				  room.
(B) As a condition to
				  granting authorization for television or radio coverage of a parole hearing the
				  executive officer of the board may request that a copy of any recording made of
				  the hearing be furnished to the board without cost.
(C) The executive officer of the board or a
				  board hearing panel may deny, limit or terminate coverage of a
				  hearing.
(4) Pooling
				  Arrangements Among Television and Radio Representatives. All television and
				  radio representatives who make a timely request to attend a hearing shall be
				  provided with pool services. The station or network designated to be in the
				  hearing room shall provide the service. Pooling arrangements among
				  representatives shall be the responsibility of the station or network
				  designated to be in the hearing room. In the absence of a pooling agreement or
				  in the event of unresolved disputes relating to pooling agreements, the
				  executive officer or a board hearing panel may deny, limit or terminate all or
				  a portion of the coverage.
(5)
				  Television and Radio Coverage Standards: Equipment and Personnel. Equipment
				  that does not produce distracting sound or light shall be employed to cover
				  parole hearings.
(A) Equipment from the
				  designated station or network only shall be permitted into the hearing
				  room.
(B) There shall be no
				  modification or additions to lighting fixtures in the hearing rooms.
(C) No light or signal which is visible or
				  audible to the hearing participants shall be used on any equipment to indicate
				  whether it is operating.
(D) Video
				  and audio equipment shall not be placed in or removed from the hearing room
				  except before or after the hearing or during a normal recess.
(E) Television or radio personnel from the
				  designated station or network shall assume an assigned, fixed position in the
				  hearing room and shall act in a manner so as not to call attention to his
				  activities. Camera persons shall not be permitted to move about during the
				  hearing.
(F) Television and radio
				  coverage of parole hearings by station and network personnel shall be conducted
				  so as not to create a risk to the security of an institution, obstruct the
				  hearing process, pose a risk to the personal safety of any person or have the
				  potential for prejudicing judicial proceedings.
(6) Excluding and Restricting Television and
				  Radio Personnel at Board of Prison Terms' Hearings.
(A) Television and radio personnel may be
				  excluded from or restricted in their attendance at parole hearings by the
				  executive officer of the board or a board hearing panel when the presence of
				  such personnel would create a risk to the security of an institution, obstruct
				  the hearing process, pose a risk to the personal safety of any person or have
				  the potential for prejudicing judicial proceedings.
(B) To protect the attorney-client privilege
				  and the right to effective assistance of counsel, there shall be no audio
				  coverage of conferences between the prisoner and his attorney.
(C) There shall be no coverage of any portion
				  of the hearing which is closed by the panel members, including but not limited
				  to deliberations.
(D) There shall
				  be no coverage of any portion of the hearing which is deemed confidential
				  pursuant to California Code of Regulations, Title 15, Sections
				  2087 (d)(1) and
				  3321(a).
(7) Objections to Television or Radio
				  Coverage at Board of Prison Terms' Parole Hearings.
(A) The consent of the prisoner or his
				  attorney shall not be required for television or radio coverage of a parole
				  hearing. However, the prisoner or the prisoner's attorney may request that the
				  hearing panel deny, limit or terminate television or radio coverage.
(B) Objections to television or radio
				  coverage of a hearing by a prisoner or his attorney shall be considered on a
				  case by case basis recognizing that prisoners do not have an inherent right to
				  restrict television or radio coverage of a parole hearing.
(C) In determining whether or not to grant an
				  objection to television or radio coverage the executive officer or the hearing
				  panel shall make its determination based on whether television or radio
				  coverage of the hearing would create a risk to the security of the institution,
				  obstruct the hearing process, pose a risk to the personal safety of any person
				  or have the potential for prejudicing judicial
				  proceedings.