NCJ Number
89092
Journal
Boston University Law Review Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1982) Pages: 515-551
Date Published
1982
Length
37 pages
Annotation
The Federal Parole Commission should apply only the parole guidelines in effect at the date of a particular prisoner's crime in determining that prisoner's parole date. The use of any other criteria violates the ex post facto clause.
Abstract
In seeking to increase the fairness and regularity of parole release decisionmaking, the Federal Parole Commission has used a system of guidelines for determining expected parole release dates. Over 80 percent of the agency's decisions fall within the guideline ranges; most of the remaining decisions use the guidelines as a benchmark. The parole agency revises the regulations for administering the parole guidelines often, sometimes with the consequence of increasing the amount of time a given class of prisoners should serve before relase on parole. As a result, prisoners have asserted that applying new parole guidelines to them violates the ex post facto clause. Most courts considering this question have erroneously rejected the petitioners' contentions. However, given the parole guidelines' importance in determining freedom for prisoners, their consistency of application, and their statutory basis, traditional interpretations of the ex post facto clause require that the Parole Commission apply only those guidelines in effect at the date of a particular prisoner's crime. The use of any other criteria calls into question the voluntariness of guilty pleas, frustrates judicial intent, allows political passions to determine the length of imprisonment for Federal prisoners, and violates the ex post facto clause. A total of 205 case notes and excerpts from the guidelines are supplied. (Author summary modified)