Curtis v. Bennett

Citation256 Iowa 1164,131 N.W.2d 1
Decision Date20 October 1964
Docket NumberNo. 51380,51380
PartiesEdward Charles CURTIS, Appellant, v. John E. BENNETT, Warden, Iowa State Penitentiary, Fort Madison, Iowa, Iowa State Board of Parole, Iowa State Board of Control, Appellees.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Iowa

Edward Charles Curtis, pro se.

Evan Hultman, Atty. Gen., of Iowa, and John H. Allen, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellees.

LARSON, Justice.

Appellant, a prisoner in the state penitentiary at Fort Madison, petitioned the district court of Lee County for a writ of habeas corpus directed to the warden of the penitentiary. The court denied the writ and applicant has appealed.

On August 3, 1960, appellant was convicted of the crime of breaking and entering in the district court of Clinton County and was sentenced to an indeterminate term not to exceed ten years in the penitentiary. He raised no question as to the legality of that conviction and sentence.

Appellant was paroled from that institution July 20, 1962, and was placed in the employment of his father-in-law, a resident of East Moline, Illinois. On or about April 3, 1963, appellant's parole was revoked by the issuing authority, the Iowa Board of Parole, and he was returned to the penitentiary.

On November 8, 1963, applicant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus alleging that he had been placed on parole in Illinois under a fraudulent parole agreement, that the agreement was not carried out under the provisions of an existing Iowa-Illinois Interstate Parole Compact, that his parole was wrongfully and illegally revoked and he was abducted from the State of Illinois by an Iowa parole agent. He further alleged that his constitutional rights were breached by a failure to provide him a hearing to test the legality of the revocation, and that he was not furnished counsel before the board's action revoking his parole and returning him to the penitentiary. In this petition he asked that a full evidentiary hearing be granted him setting out what he contends the evidence would prove. While petitioner alleged some sort of conspiracy between an Iowa parole agent and his father-in-law to place him in the employment of his father-in-law, calling it 'slavery', he stated that this employment did not last for any length of time, and from the exhibits attached to his petition it appears he was subsequently employed by several other parties and that he was unemployed and on relief for some extended period of this parole. He also conceded that he was arrested on suspicion of burglary in East Moline, Illinois, but stated he was not formally charged with the crime. It is clear from this petition that the results of his parole or probation were not all the Iowa Board of Parole had hoped for or contemplated.

After appellant's petition for a writ was denied without an evidentiary hearing on November 8, 1963, and he had appealed, he applied to the district court for appointment of counsel to assist him in this appeal. It was denied and he proceeded pro se.

I. Appellant raises two questions in this appeal--first, whether he had a constitutional right to notice and hearing before the board of parole could revoke his parole, and second, whether the statutes require such a notice and hearing before revoking his parole and before he may be returned to the institution from which he was paroled. Both of these questions have previously been answered in the negative in this state, although nationally on the constitutional question there is a split of authority. See 29 A.L.R.2d Anno. 1076, 1077, 1078, 1084. Iowa is among the majority of states which have consistently held that under statutes relating to revocation of probation or suspension of sentence which contain no express provision for notice and hearing, such a revocation without notice and hearing does not constitute a denial of due process. Pagano v. Bechly, 211 Iowa 1294, 232 N.W. 798; Ex parte Davis, 37 Cal.2d 872, 236 P.2d 579; People v. Dudley, 173 Mich. 389, 138 N.W. 1044; Re Kuney, 168 Misc. 285, 5 N.Y.S2d 644. Also see Lint v. Bennett, 251 Iowa 1193, 104 N.W.2d 564, and citations. In Pagano v. Bechly, supra, it was the claim of plaintiff that he had vested rights by reason of his parole of which he could not be deprived under the constitution without notice and an opportunity to be heard, but this court said on page 1298 of 211 Iowa, page 800 of 232 N.W.: 'Being a matter of grace and forbearance on the part of the sovereign, the defendant acquired no vested rights, and therefore, under the statutory provisions (same as now), he would not be entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard.'

In support of the view that there is no constitutional right to notice and hearing before revocation of suspension of sentence (Lint v. Bennett, supra), probation or parole (Pagano v. Bechly, supra), most courts hold that conditional liberty after conviction is an act of grace or clemency extended by the trial court or the state, conferring no vested rights upon the convict and subject to withdrawal at the discretion of the granting authority (our view), or that such conditional liberty does not free the convict from service of his sentence but merely extends the prison walls so as to allow him to serve such sentence outside the prison while remaining in the custody of the court or prison authorities and subject to their disciplinary control, or that the convicted person having been given full constitutional protection at the trial when he was convicted, the presumption of his innocence disappears and his status is that of an escaped felon, and the constitutional guaranties given a person accused of crime do not extend to subsequent enforcement of validly-imposed punishments. Others hold conditional liberty after conviction is in the nature of a contract between the convicted person and the granting authority which the convicted person is free to accept or reject, the terms of which, including a provision for summary or ex parte revocation, are binding upon the convicted person on acceptance. These views, as well as the view that they create vested rights in the convict, were fully discussed in Anderson v. Alexander, Warden, 191 Or. 409, 229 P.2d 633, 230 P.2d 770, 29 A.L.R.2d 1051. Under any of these views we are satisfied petitioner failed to allege valid grounds for the writ.

II. The Iowa statutes do not provide for such a hearing before the parole board. The board is given no power to issue subpoenaes nor swear witnesses. There is nothing in the statutes which expressly or by implication requires the board to enter findings of fact of the kind made by judicial bodies. The absence of such provisions shows the...

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15 cases
  • Morrissey v. Brewer, 20328
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)
    • 21 d3 Abril d3 1971
    .......         The Iowa statutes neither prohibit nor expressly provide for notice and hearing before revocation of parole. 4 In Curtis v. Bennett, 256 Iowa 1164, 131 N.W.2d 1 (1964), cert. denied, 380 U.S. 958, 85 S.Ct. 1096, 13 L.Ed.2d 974 (1965) one of the questions presented to ......
  • Cole v. Holliday
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Iowa
    • 14 d2 Outubro d2 1969
    ...... Curtis v. Bennett, 256 Iowa 1164, 1167, 131 N.W.2d 1, 3, and citations. But see McConnell v. Rhay, 393 U.S. 2, 89 S.Ct. 32, 21 L.Ed.2d 2 (1968). ......
  • Morrissey v. Brewer 8212 5103
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 29 d4 Junho d4 1972
    ...... . Page 493 . was paroled. 2 Thus, Iowa requires no notice or hearing to put a parolee back in prison, Curtis v. Bennett, 256 Iowa 1164, 131 N.W.2d 1; and it is urged that since parole, like probation, is only a privilege it may be summarily revoked. 3 See ......
  • State v. Hughes, 54565
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Iowa
    • 19 d2 Setembro d2 1972
    ...... Pagano v. Bechly, 211 Iowa 1294, 232 N.W. 798; State v. Bufford, 231 Iowa 1000, 2 N.W.2d 634; Lint v. Bennett, 251 Iowa 1193, 104 N.W.2d 564; Curtis v. . Page 562. Bennett, 256 Iowa 1164, 131 N.W.2d 1; State v. Rath, 258 Iowa 568, 139 N.W.2d 468; Cole v. ......
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