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What Are Prison Privilege Group Classifications?

One of the most important classification that an inmate in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) prison system will be assigned is his or her Privilege Group Classification.
This article is written for those in prison who hope to better understand this classification, as well as the friends or family of an inmate who want to know more details about what a certain Privilege Group Classification means.
The CDCR Privilege Group classifications are:
  1. Privilege Group A: Inmates assigned to this privilege group are assigned to full-time work, educational or training or deemed to have total or partial disabilities. Privileges include family visits (if eligible) limited only by institutional resources and security policy. Inmates in this group also enjoy the maximum monthly canteen draw, telephone access during non-work / training hours, access to the yard, recreational and entertainment activities during non-work / training hours and four personal property packages per year. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(d).
  2. Privilege Group B: Inmates assigned to this group have half-time assignments or are involuntarily unassigned (on a waiting list for full-time assignment). Privileges include one family visit every six months (if eligible), regular visits during non-work / training hours, 75% of the maximum monthly canteen draw, one personal telephone access period per month, access to the yard, recreational and entertainment activities during non-work / training hours and four personal property packages per year. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(e).
  3. Privilege Group C: Inmates who twice refuse to accept assigned housing or once refuse to work are temporarily placed in Group C as punishment for a rule violation or who are placed in this group for a period of time by a classification committee. Those inmates who are deemed to be “program failures” after they receive more than two serious disciplinary violations, or one serious and two administrative disciplinary violations with a 180-day period may also be placed in Group C. Inmates in this group have no family visits and are limited to 25% of the maximum monthly canteen draw. Telephone calls are permitted only on an emergency basis as determined by the institution’s staff. Access to the yard is allowed, but no access to other recreational or entertainment activities, and no personal property packages. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(f); see also 15 C.C.R. § 3000 (defining program failures).
  4. Privilege Group D: Inmates in Group D are housed in segregation units who are not assigned to a full-time or half-time work / training assignment, except those on Non-Disciplinary Segregation (NDS) (who retain their privilege group designation from prior to segregation placement) or inmates with Security Threat Group (STG) affiliations participating in the Step Down Program (SDP) (who are in privilege groups S1 to S4). Privileges are the same as those for Privilege Group C, except that one personal property package is allowed per year. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(g).
  5. Privilege Group U: Inmates in Group U are those who are being processed in a reception center. No family visits, telephone access only on an emergency basis, and no personal property packages. These inmates are permitted 50% of the maximum monthly canteen draw and have access to the yard, recreational and entertainment activities. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(h).
  6. Privilege Groups S1 to S4: Inmates who are in the Step Down Program (SDP), which is the CDCR’s program for transitioning inmates with validated street gang affiliations who have been in the SHU (Segregated Housing Unit) for serious gang-related rule violations back to the general population. The numbers correspond to Steps 1 through 4 of the SDP. People in privilege group S1 are not allowed family visits and regular visits are limited to non-contact visiting.

    Inmates in this group get yard access for a minimum of ten hours per week. They get one non-emergency telephone call every 90 days if they have met program expectations. They get only 25% of maximum canteen draw, one personal property package per year, and one photograph. Privileges are increased as the person progresses through Steps 2 to 4. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(i).

    People who are in a Restricted Custody General Population Unit (RCGP) for failure to program or rule violations in the SDP will be in privilege group S3 or S4, with some particular privilege rules for RCGP status. People in the SDP at all steps are allowed electrical appliances in accord with the Authorized Personal Property Schedule for SHU / PSU Inmates. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(i); 15 C.C.R. § 3378.3(a).
  7. Privilege Group AS: Inmates in Group AS are serving indeterminate Administrative SHU placement due to posing on ongoing threat to safety and security. Such inmates are not entitled to family visits and regular visiting is limited to non-contact visits during non-work / training hours. Out-of-cell yard and programming is limited to 20 hours per week. Canteen draw ranges from 25% to 75% of the maximum monthly amount, one non-emergency telephone call every month to 90 days, between one and four personal property packages per year and between one and four photographs are allowed. 15 C.C.R. § 3044(j).
This article would not be possible without reference to the excellent treatise, California Prison and Parole Law Handbook, written by the Prison Law Group in Folsom, CA.
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