The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has recently pushed terminology changes in the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 15 to change the word “inmate” to “incarcerated person” and “parolees” to “supervised persons.” These changes to regulation were not made to comply with law or legal status, but these term changes were made to make the inmates (incarcerated people) happier while in prison.
Currently Title 15 of the CCR has been updated to replace “inmate” with “incarcerated person” there has been some conflict regarding legal documentation. The official crime report generated by CDCR staff are Crime/Incident Reports (IRTs). These reports are used for, among other things, as the official report of criminal activity and are the tool used bring criminal charges. Despite the legal nature of these reports, several CDCR management staff have been arguing for using the term “incarcerated person” within them. Often officer’s reports are changed to replace “inmate” with “incarcerated person.”
CCR is a listing of regulations adopted by California State agencies, and these regulations can carry the weight of law, however it is important to understand that CCR is not law. CCR regulations must be read in combination with state law and relevant case law. Most of the laws related to crimes committed by inmates and within the jurisdiction of the CDCR are contained in the Penal Code. The Penal Code still refers to prisoners of CDCR as prisoners and/or inmates. There is no reference to “incarcerated persons” within the California Penal Code.
The most important function of CDCR’s Crime/Incident Reports is the legal report for criminal prosecution; the terminology used in these reports should match state and case law by using the correct term: “inmate.” Although administrate violations of CCR can and often derive from Crime/Incident Reports, this is secondary to the primary goal of criminal prosecution. Furthermore, the charging document for administrative violations by CDCR’s inmate population is the Rules Violation Report (RVR), which is a stand-alone document for inmate discipline of CCR violations. Details regarding how RVRs are used can be found in Title 15 of the CCR.
The legal nature of CDCR’s Crime/Incident reports requires the use of legal language when appropriate. The legal term for CDCR’s prisoners remains “prisoner”, or “inmate” and these terms should be used instead of the happy term “incarcerated person” being pushed by CDCR management. This author is aware the intent behind the California Model is to ensure inmates have a good time while incarcerated, but until the legal language changes in Penal Code or Government Code, the correct terminology should be used.