Lussier v. Commissioner of Correction

Massachusetts Appeals Court

Lussier v. Commissioner of Correction

338 N.E.2d 361, 3 Mass. App. Ct. 790, 1975 Mass. App. LEXIS 841

CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court

DecidedDecember 5, 1975

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 338 N.E.2d 361 (Lussier v. Commissioner of Correction) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Appeals Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Lussier v. Commissioner of Correction, 338 N.E.2d 361, 3 Mass. App. Ct. 790, 1975 Mass. App. LEXIS 841 (Mass. Ct. App. 1975).

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Opinion

The plaintiff in this action for declaratory relief, who was paroled from a sentence of twenty-seven years to life to a shorter, from-and-after sentence which has since expired, contends that the judgment entered is erroneous by reason of its holding that the longer sentence has not expired and that he is not entitled to a discharge therefrom. The contention is based on a misreading of G. L. c. 279, § 8A, which clearly states that a previous sentence shall be deemed to have expired when a prisoner is paroled therefrom “[f] or the purpose only of determining the time of the taking effect” of the from-and-after sentence. To hold that the previous sentence has expired for all purposes would be to flout the express limitation of the statute. There is nothing in G. L. c. 279, § 8A, or in Dolan’s case, 101 Mass. 219 (1869), Harding v. State Bd. of Parole, 307 Mass. 217 (1940), Brown v. Com[791]*791missioner of Correction, 336 Mass. 718 (1968), or Carlino v. Commissioner of Correction, 355 Mass. 159 (1969), which supports the plaintiff’s position.

The case was submitted on briefs. Kenneth Weiss for the plaintiff. Francis X. Bellotti, Attorney General, John J. Irwin, Jr., & Robert V. Greco, Assistant Attorneys General, for the defendants.

Judgment affirmed.

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The plaintiff in this action for declaratory relief, who was paroled from a sentence of twenty-seven years to life to a shorter, from-and-after sentence which has since expired, contends that the judgment entered is erroneous by reason of its holding that the longer sentence has not expired and that he is not entitled to a discharge therefrom. The contention is based on a misreading of G. L. c. 279, § 8A, which clearly states that a previous sentence shall be deemed to have expired when a prisoner is paroled therefrom “[f] or the purpose only of determining the time of the taking effect” of the from-and-after sentence. To hold that the previous sentence has expired for all purposes would be to flout the express limitation of the statute. There is nothing in G. L. c. 279, § 8A, or in Dolan’s case, 101 Mass. 219 (1869), Harding v. State Bd. of Parole, 307 Mass. 217 (1940), Brown v. Com[791]*791missioner of Correction, 336 Mass. 718 (1968), or Carlino v. Commissioner of Correction, 355 Mass. 159 (1969), which supports the plaintiff’s position.

The case was submitted on briefs. Kenneth Weiss for the plaintiff. Francis X. Bellotti, Attorney General, John J. Irwin, Jr., & Robert V. Greco, Assistant Attorneys General, for the defendants.

Judgment affirmed.

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Bluebook (online)

338 N.E.2d 361, 3 Mass. App. Ct. 790, 1975 Mass. App. LEXIS 841, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lussier-v-commissioner-of-correction-massappct-1975.

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