United States ex rel. Shannon v. Klincar

678 F. Supp. 198, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 866, 1988 WL 6599
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJanuary 29, 1988
DocketNo. 87 C 4248
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 678 F. Supp. 198 (United States ex rel. Shannon v. Klincar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States ex rel. Shannon v. Klincar, 678 F. Supp. 198, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 866, 1988 WL 6599 (N.D. Ill. 1988).

Opinion

ORDER

NORGLE, District Judge.

Before the court is a petition for writ of habeas corpus. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner has filed a response to respondent’s, Illinois Prisoner Review Board’s (“Board”), answer and moved for judgment on the pleadings. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c). For the following reasons, the habeas petition is denied.

Petitioner, John Shannon, is serving a 25-30 year prison term after being convicted of murder. He is currently eligible for parole and received parole hearings in 1985, 1986 and 1987. Petitioner asserts his parole denials violated the due process and/or equal protection clauses for a number of reasons: 1) the Board failed to allow him to review the State’s Attorney’s written protest which the Board considered in denying him parole in 1985; 2) the Board relied on the State’s Attorney’s written protest despite Shannon's assertion that it contained false information; 3) the Board ignored the information supplied by Shannon, and it has no provision for resolving disputed issues of fact; 4) the Board utilized the same reasons in 1986 for denying Shannon parole in 1985, and it has violated the prohibition of double jeopardy and imposed double punishment by relying on reasons in 1985 and 1986 that were used by the sentencing judge; and 5) the Board denied him parole without sufficient reasons and essential facts supporting those reasons.

Constitutional Standard of Inmate Parole Review

The due process clause applies when government action deprives a person of liberty or property. Greenholtz v. Inmates of the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex, 442 U.S. 1, 7, 99 S.Ct. 2100, 2103, 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979). In determining whether a person possesses a [200]*200protectible right, the Supreme Court has held that:

a person clearly must have more than an abstract need or desire for it. He must have more than a unilateral expectation of it. He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of entitlement to it.

Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2709, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). The Court in Greenholtz held that there is no constitutional or inherent right of a convicted person to be conditionally released before the expiration of a valid sentence. 442 U.S. at 7, 99 S.Ct. at 2104. There is no constitutional guarantee that all executive decisionmaking, especially decisions on whether to grant parole release, will be error-free. Id. A state may establish a parole system, but it has no duty to do so. Id. The decision to grant parole release differs from the traditional model of judicial decisionmaking. It “involves a synthesis of record facts and personal observation filtered through the experience of the decisionmaker and leading to a predictive judgment as to what is best both for the individual inmate and for the community.” Id. at 8, 99 S.Ct. at 2104.

The Seventh Circuit has interpreted the holding of Greenholtz in relation to Illinois law. The Illinois parole statute and the Illinois Review Board rules provide an inmate with a legitimate expectation of parole, entitling him to some degree of constitutional protection. Newbury v. Prisoner Review Bd., 791 F.2d 81, 84 (7th Cir.1986); Heirens v. Mizell, 729 F.2d 449, 466 (7th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 842, 105 S.Ct. 147, 83 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984). These protections do not include all the constitutional protections due a criminal defendant at trial or even those due an individual on parole who faces a revocation of his parole. New-bury, 791 F.2d at 85. The Constitution does require that the Parole Board cite to facts upon which its reasons for denial of parole can be justified. Heirens, 729 F.2d at 467.

To satisfy the minimum due process requirements:

a statement of reasons should be sufficient to enable a reviewing body to determine whether parole has been denied for an impermissible reason or for no reason at all. For this essential purpose, detailed findings of fact are not required, provided the Board’s decision is based upon consideration of all relevant factors and it furnishes to the inmate both the grounds for the decision ... and the essential facts upon which the Board’s inferences are based.

United States ex rel. Scott v. Illinois Parole and Pardon Bd., 669 F.2d 1185, 1190 (7th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1048, 103 S.Ct. 468, 74 L.Ed.2d 617 (1982) (quoting United States ex rel. Johnson v. Chairman of New York State Bd. of Parole, 500 F.2d 925, 934 (2d Cir.1974), vacated as moot, 419 U.S. 1015, 95 S.Ct. 488, 42 L.Ed.2d 289 (1974)). The Illinois Code of Corrections provides three bases for denying parole:

(c) the Board shall not parole a person eligible for parole if it determines that:
(1) there is a substantial risk that he will not conform to reasonable conditions of parole; or
(2) his release at that time would deprecate the seriousness of his offense or promote disrespect for the law; or
(3) his release would have a substantial adverse effect on institutional discipline.

Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 38 § 1003-3-5(c) (1985). Parole must be granted where none of the statutory reasons for denial is found to exist. Scott, 669 F.2d at 1188-89. The court in Scott indicated that the Board must consider the specific conduct of the inmate in the articulation of its reasons for denial, and not merely reiterate the statutory offense for which he had been found criminally liable. Id. at 1191. The Board need not “provide a summary of evidence” to support its decision. Heirens, 729 F.2d at 468; Greenholtz, 442 U.S. at 15-16, 99 S.Ct. at 2108.

Moreover, the information which the Board is permitted to consider in its determination is broad. Walker v. Prisoner Review Bd., 769 F.2d 396, 400 (7th Cir.1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1065, 106 S.Ct. 817, 88 L.Ed.2d 791 (1986). The Board may [201]*201consider even materials that have not been proved reliable (i.e. they need not be tested in an adversarial proceeding). Id. at 400-01. Under Illinois law, the inmate must be allowed access to the materials used in making the parole determination and be afforded an opportunity to respond to the information which the Board considers. Id. at 401.

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Bluebook (online)
678 F. Supp. 198, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 866, 1988 WL 6599, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-ex-rel-shannon-v-klincar-ilnd-1988.