Three decades ago, a young man named Eugene Rayford was incarcerated. This petition is not just about Eugene, but about a daughter separated from her father for three decades, due to an outdated understanding of antisocial personality disorder in the penal system. His crime, committed in his youth, has marked him for life. Yet, my father, Eugene, has spent 30 transformative years working to meet the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH) standards and he recently underwent a range of rehabilitative programs to address his needs. 

In 2018, after 30 years in prison, he was denied parole following a reactionary practice grounded in an archaic or pre-DSM-5 understanding of his psychological evaluation. This administrative decision resulted in a 7-year denial, pushing his next parole hearing to June 2025. It's heartbreaking to witness men with much less commitment to self-transformative work being granted parole, whilst my father remains sidelined.

On behalf of Eugene, our family, and other youth offenders whose future hangs on the antiquated psychological understanding still employed by our justice system, we are seeking your urgent support. With Sacramento, CA being home to 14,000 parolees as per the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, imagine how many lives could potentially be affected by this issue.

It is high time for our community in Sacramento, California, to rally behind Eugene Rayford and demand a fair hearing grounded on updated psychological evaluations, restoring faith in a system that should believe in rehabilitation and second chances.

Assembly Bills 600 & 2942

One alternative to justice available to Eugene is resentencing under AB600 and/or AB2942. AB600 is a resentencing law enacted in 2024 that gives discretion to the original trial judge of a defendant to resentence those who meet certain criteria, such as: (1) youth at the time of the crime, (2) documented childhood trauma, abuse, and/or neglect, (3) disciplinary record since imprisonment, (4) and exceptional record of positive programming in prison, such as college, substance use treatment, vocations, etc. 

Under AB600, prisoners can request to be resentenced to a reduced sentence "in the interest of justice" based on the circumstances just mentioned. However, a trial judge is not required to respond by either granting or denying a request. It is totally at the discretion of the trial judge to either grant or deny, respond or ignore, or delay any of these actions whatsoever for as long as he/she wants. 

AB2942 is an amendment to AB600 that allows resentencing to be recommended and/or initiated by the district attorney of the county of offense. 

Today Eugene holds a state credential as a Certified Addictions Treatment Counselor (CATC-i), registered with the Addiction Counselor Certification Board of California (#16797-i), regulated by the California Department of Health. 

And presently, he works under DRP (Division of Rehabilitative Programs) as a Group co-Facilitator alongside counselors with Amity Foundation, an outside contractor of addiction treatment services. Additionally, Clinical Supervision is provided by Options Recovery Services, a partner organization. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only your signature can raise this vital issue and give Eugene, and others like him, an increased chance of coming home alive. Please, add your support today.

You can reach out to Eugene directly by using the inmate locator to get his current address. Just enter: Eugene Rayford J30267

To donate directly for Eugene, use cashapp: $queenmarieR1203 Regenamarie Rayford