State ex rel. Lee v. Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, Board of Pardon & Parole

739 So. 2d 815, 98 La.App. 1 Cir. 0967, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1646, 1999 WL 322782
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 14, 1999
DocketNo. 98 CA 0967
StatusPublished

This text of 739 So. 2d 815 (State ex rel. Lee v. Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, Board of Pardon & Parole) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Lee v. Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, Board of Pardon & Parole, 739 So. 2d 815, 98 La.App. 1 Cir. 0967, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1646, 1999 WL 322782 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

| .EDWARD A. de la HOUSSAYE, Judge Pro Tem.

This is an appeal by Edward Lee, in proper person, from a judgment denying his request for a preliminary injunction against the Louisiana Board of Pardon and Parole (“Parole Board”) and the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (“DPSC”). We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On August 26, 1988, Edward Lee was sentenced to five years imprisonment after being found guilty of indecent behavior with a juvenile. On August 10, 1990, Lee was found guilty of molestation of a juvenile and was subsequently sentenced to [817]*817eight years imprisonment as a habitual offender. On November 20, 1994, Lee was released due to a diminution of his sentence based upon “good time” credit pursuant to LSA-R.S. 15:571.5.2 Under LSA-R.S. 15:571.5(A), this type of release is “as if released on parole.” Lee v. State, 96-0108, pp. 4-5 (La.App. 1st Cir.9/27/96); 681 So.2d 1020, 1022, writ denied, 97-1016 (La.4/25/97); 692 So.2d 1099.

On November 18, 1994, Lee signed a “Diminution of Sentence” form which detailed the conditions of his release. .Condition Nine of these conditions provides: “I will agree to live and work at the places stated in my parole plan and will not change residence or employment until after I have permission to do so from the Parole Agent.” Although Lee signed the form, he wrote “(U.D.)” before his signature, indicating that he was signing the form “under duress.”3 See Bancroft v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, 93-1934, p. 2 (La.App. 1st Cir.4/8/94); 635 So.2d 738, 740-741.

Thus, at the time of plaintiffs release, he had an approved residence plan. Thereafter, on August 7, 1997, plaintiffs girlfriend and her two children, 14 and 10 years old, moved into plaintiffs house because their house burned down. On January 5, 1998, plaintiffs parole officer visited plaintiff and told plaintiff that he was in violation of his conditions of parole and that he needed to move his girlfriend and her children out of his house. Apparently, plaintiff did not comply.

On January 21,1998, Lee filed a petition for preliminary injunction, seeking to prevent the Parole Board from arresting plaintiff for non-compliance with his release conditions. In his submissions to the trial court, plaintiff argued that he was not in violation of his conditions of release because he had not changed his residence without prior approval from his parole offi[818]*818cer; rather, his girlfriend and her children began to reside with him. Further, plaintiff argued that the parole ^officer was without authority to modify unilaterally Lee’s conditions of release, after Lee had agreed to the conditions, to prohibit him from residing with his girlfriend and her two children. The DPSC argued, however, that the parole officer did have the authority to place “reasonable and justified restrictions” on plaintiffs residential plan. Alternatively, DPSC argued that the Parole Board has the authority to add, after the prisoner has been released on parole, any specific restriction deemed appropriate.

The trial court denied Lee’s TRO application, and after a preliminary injunction hearing, the court granted judgment on March 9,1999, in the defendant’s favor and denied Lee’s injunction. In his oral reasons for judgment, the trial judge recited that release on diminution of sentence, like release on parole, is a privilege. Furthermore, the trial court stated: “Once you agree to the conditions of the diminution of your sentence, which one of those is to follow the reasonable requests of your parole officer, then you have to do that.” The trial court further found that the parole officer’s request, that Lee not live in the same house as his girlfriend and her two children, was reasonable. Lee’s motion for a devolutive appeal was signed on March 25,1999.4

DISCUSSION

Lee appeals and contests the trial court’s denial of his request for preliminary injunction. His brief on appeal presents two issues for our review: (1) whether Lee was in violation of Condition 9 of his Conditions of Release or whether his parole officer improperly restricted his living arrangements; and (2) whether Lee was entitled to a warning or a reprimand prior to his arrest for violation of his conditions of parole after his preliminary injunction was denied. The DPSC has Rnot responded to Lee’s appeal.

Condition of Release, No. 9

The first issue presented for our review concerns Condition 9 of Lee’s Conditions of Release. Lee asserts that the trial court incorrectly found that Condition 9 granted Lee’s parole officer the authority to order with whom Lee could co-habi-tate. Lee contends the prohibition against change of residence without prior approval restricts only a parolee’s change in address. Thus, Lee argues that the parole officer’s order that he not co-habitate with his girlfriend and her two children was unreasonable and exceeded the scope of his parole restrictions contained in Condition 9.

Louisiana Revised Statute 15:571.5, governing supervision of release after diminution of sentence, specifies that the parole board is authorized to establish “such conditions as provided in R.S. 15:574.4(H) as may be reasonable necessary to facilitate supervision.” LSA-R.S. 15:571.5(A)(2). Louisiana Revised Statute 15:574.4(H)(4) lists the conditions to which the board may require that a parolee conform. Louisiana Revised Statute 15:574.4(H)(4)(i) provides that the Board may require a parolee to “live and work at the places stated in his parole plan and not change residence or employment until after he has permission to do so from his parole officer.” Thus, LSA-R.S. 15:574.4(H)(4)(i) is the authority for imposing Condition 9 of Lee’s Conditions of Release.5 Therefore, the first is[819]*819sue for our review presents a question of statutory interpretation.

The question presented is whether the term “residence” as it is used in Condition 9 of Lee’s Conditions of Release refers to a parolee’s living arrangements or refers to the physical address of where the parolee has stated he | fiwill live. Statutory interpretation begins “as [it] must, with the language of the statute.” State v. Ste. Marie, 98-1167, p. 1 (La.12/18/98); 723 So.2d 407, 408 (citing Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 143, 116 S.Ct. 501, 506, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995)).

Louisiana law on statutory interpretation is set forth in Louisiana Civil Code articles 9 through 13. Law is to be applied as written if it is clear and unambiguous. LSA-C.C. art. 9. If the statute’s language is susceptible of different meanings, we must seek the meaning that best conforms to the law’s purpose. LSA-C.C. art. 10. We must give the words of a law their generally prevailing meaning and examine ambiguous words in context. LSA-C.C. arts. 11 and 12. We must interpret laws on the same subject matter in pari mate-ria, or in reference to each other. LSA-C.C. art. 13; Ruiz v. Onate, 97-2412, pp. 4-5 (La.5/19/98); 713 So.2d 442, 444; Baton Rouge Union of Police, Local 237, I.U.P.A., AFL-CIO v. City of Baton Rouge, 96-1976, pp. 2-3 (La.App. 1st Cir.6/20/97); 696 So.2d 642, 643-644.

Using these guidelines, we shall determine the meaning of the word “residence” as it is used in Condition 9.

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739 So. 2d 815, 98 La.App. 1 Cir. 0967, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 1646, 1999 WL 322782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-lee-v-louisiana-department-of-public-safety-corrections-lactapp-1999.