In Re Lusero

Opinion

STRANKMAN, P. J.

By petition for writ of habeas corpus, inmate Loren R. Lusero challenges his assignment to a security housing unit (SHU) for a fixed term with a minimum eligible release date of August 28, 1995. The assignment was made by respondent through an institutional classification committee (ICC) when Lusero was committed to the Department of Corrections for 19 years after his conviction for robbery and other offenses. The ICC based the assignment on its authority under title 15, California Code of Regulations, section 3341.5, subdivision (c)(5) (hereafter section 3341.5(c)(5)), to reimpose an unexpired, fixed SHU term on a previously paroled prisoner who “returns to prison, either as a parole violator or with a new prison commitment. . . .”

Respondent interprets the words “or with a new prison commitment” to encompass persons previously discharged from parole at the time of the new commitment. Petitioner urges, however, that since he had successfully completed parole, section 3341.5(c)(5) does not apply to him. We agree, finding respondent’s interpretation of the section unreasonable.

Background

Petitioner was paroled from a prior prison commitment in 1988. At the time of his parole, he was serving a fixed disciplinary term in a SHU imposed when he was found guilty of assaulting a staff member. Petitioner successfully completed his parole and was discharged. (Pen. Code, § 3000, subd. (d).) Petitioner was most recently received by the Department of Corrections on May 10, 1990, and shortly thereafter was assigned to a SHU solely because of the previously unexpired SHU disciplinary fixed term. Petitioner’s administrative challenges to the decision

(in re Muszalski

(1975) 52 Cal.App.3d 500 [125 Cal.Rptr. 286]) were unsuccessful. This petition followed.

Issue

Petitioner does not challenge respondent’s general authority, through an ICC, to assign inmates to a SHU during the classification process (Pen.

[575]

Code, § 5068) or to impose such a housing assignment as a disciplinary sanction (Pen. Code, § 5054). Nor does he challenge the validity of section 3341.5(c)(5) itself or the determinate SHU term scheme of the regulations promulgated by the director. Such challenges would normally require the filing of a declaratory relief action in the superior court.