Parkman v. Sex Offender Screening & Risk Assessment Committee

2009 Ark. 205, 307 S.W.3d 6, 2009 Ark. LEXIS 308
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedApril 16, 2009
Docket08-1165
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2009 Ark. 205 (Parkman v. Sex Offender Screening & Risk Assessment Committee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parkman v. Sex Offender Screening & Risk Assessment Committee, 2009 Ark. 205, 307 S.W.3d 6, 2009 Ark. LEXIS 308 (Ark. 2009).

Opinion

PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice.

| pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), appellant John P. Parkman appeals from the order of the circuit court dismissing his appeal from appellee Sex Offender Screening and Risk Assessment Committee’s administrative review, in which the Committee upheld his assessment as a level four sex offender. 1 He asserts three points on appeal: (1) that he was unconstitutionally denied a hearing before the Committee; (2) that he was unconstitutionally penalized for candor about his sexual past while under forced immunity; and (3) that there was noncompliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements regarding a level four, sexually violent predator assessment. We affirm.

IgThe record in this case reflects that on November 15, 2006, the Committee notified Parkman of his assessment as a level four sex offender. 2 Shortly thereafter, Parkman timely requested administrative review of the Committee’s assessment, requesting copies of certain items in the Committee’s possession, and demanding the right to appear before the Committee. On November 28, 2006, the Committee provided certain items requested and offered dates upon which Parkman’s counsel could review the Committee’s file.

On January 8, 2007, Parkman amended and supplemented his prior request for administrative review, asserting, among other matters, the issues raised in the instant appeal. On January 16, 2007, the Committee denied Parkman’s request and found that its level four determination was

consistent with information contained within Mr. Parkman’s file. Mr. Parkman was both interviewed and diagnosed with a sexual paraphilia by Dr. Whiteside. Additionally, The Sex Offender Assessment Committee was unanimous in its determination of the reported Risk Level.

The Committee notified Parkman of his right to apply for reassessment in five years and further notified Parkman of his right to judicial review of its decision, pursuant to the APA.

Parkman subsequently filed a complaint and petition for review under the APA in the circuit court. The Committee answered and later moved to have the matter remanded to it, such that it could enter a final order and make specific findings of fact and conclusions |sof law in accord with Munson v. Arkansas Department of Correction Sex Offender Screening & Risk Assessment, 369 Ark. 290, 253 S.W.3d 901 (2007). The circuit court granted the motion and remanded the matter to the Committee “for entry of a final order.”

On December 11, 2007, the Committee issued its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and final community notification level, in which it upheld Parkman’s risk level of four. It subsequently filed a supplemental record with the circuit court, and briefs by both the Committee and Parkman were filed. On July 2, 2008, a hearing was held, and the circuit court subsequently entered its order, wherein it found:

[T]he court finds that there is substantial evidence to support the action of the administrative agency and that the administrative actions did not violate petitioner’s constitutional rights. The Complaint and Petition for Review is accordingly denied, the administrative decision is affirmed, and this matter is dismissed with prejudice.

Parkman now appeals.

I. Denial of a Hearing

Acknowledging this court’s decision on this issue in Burchette v. Sex Offender Screening & Risk Assessment Committee, 374 Ark. 467, 288 S.W.3d 614 (2008), Parkman argues that he was unconstitutionally denied a hearing before the Committee. Parkman urges this court to overrule Bur-ehette and to remand the matter to the Committee for a hearing. The Committee responds that because this court has previously held that a sex offender is not entitled to any additional face-to-face hearing before the Committee during |4the administrative-review process, and because Parkman offers no new arguments on the issue, the Burehette decision controls this issue.

In considering any constitutional challenge to a statute, this court begins with the axiom that every act carries a strong presumption of constitutionality. See Arkansas Dep’t of Correction v. Bailey, 368 Ark. 518, 247 S.W.3d 851 (2007). This presumption places the burden of proof on the party challenging the legislation to prove its unconstitutionality, and any doubts about the statute will be resolved in favor of the statute’s constitutionality, if it is possible to do so. See id. Because statutes are presumed to be framed in accordance with the Constitution, they should not be held invalid for repugnance thereto unless such conflict is clear and unmistakable. See id.

As an initial matter, Parkman urges this court to overrule our recent decision in Burchette, supra. In the absence of a compelling reason to do so, we decline to do so. We have held that:

[i]t is necessary, as a matter of public policy, to uphold prior decisions unless great injury or injustice would result. The policy behind stare decisis is to lend predictability and stability to the law. In matters of practice, adherence by a court to its own decisions is necessary and proper for the regularity and uniformity of practice, and that litigants may know with certainty the rules by which they must be governed in the conducting of their cases. Precedent governs until it gives a result so patently wrong, so manifestly unjust, that a break becomes unavoidable.

Cochran v. Bentley, 369 Ark. 159, 174, 251 S.W.3d 253, 265 (2007) (internal citations omitted).

|fiHere, Parkman maintains that he could have established the following, had a hearing during the Committee’s administrative review been held:

In addition to explaining to the Committee, under oath, that he has learned from his mistakes and has not committed any sexual transgression in many years, he would have established— through his testimony and other evidence — that he has suffered a disabling stroke and will have extremely limited mobility and physical ability. 3

In Burchette, supra, Burehette similarly argued, based on due-process considerations, that he was entitled to a hearing before the Committee before it could affirm its initial assessment of him. Making many of the same arguments and relying on some of the same case law as Parkman, Burchette appeared to want “to give his unsworn version of events, relating to the accusations for which he did not plead and was not charged, in person to [the Committee] so that [the Committee could] assess his credibility face-to-face.” 374 Ark. at 473, 288 S.W.3d at 619.

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2009 Ark. 205, 307 S.W.3d 6, 2009 Ark. LEXIS 308, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parkman-v-sex-offender-screening-risk-assessment-committee-ark-2009.