Jones v. Department of Corrections
| Decision Date | 02 July 2003 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 120991, Calendar No. 12. |
| Citation | 664 N.W.2d 717,468 Mich. 646 |
| Parties | James JONES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Michigan Clinical Law Program, University of Michigan Law School (by Bridget M. McCormack), Ann Arbor, MI, for the plaintiff-appellee.
Michael A. Cox, Attorney General, Thomas L. Casey, Solicitor General, and Jason Julian, Assistant Attorney General, Lansing, MI, for the defendant-appellant.
We granted leave to appeal in this case to consider whether plaintiff parolee was properly discharged from prison where defendant, the Department of Corrections, failed to conduct a timely fact-finding hearing under M.C.L. § 791.240a on plaintiff's parole violation charges.1 Because we conclude that nothing in the plain language of M.C.L. § 791.240a permits the release of a parole violator under the circumstances of this case and that the appropriate remedy for the department's failure to timely conduct a fact-finding hearing is a writ of mandamus, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals, dismiss plaintiff's complaint for habeas corpus relief and reinstate the order of the parole board revoking plaintiff's parole.
In October 1998, plaintiff was paroled from sentences imposed for controlled substances convictions. Plaintiff tested positively for cocaine on several occasions after his release on parole, and his original twenty-four-month parole term was extended because of various parole violations prior to those at issue in this case.2 In February 2001, plaintiff again tested positively for cocaine, and he subsequently failed to report to his parole officer. These two parole violation charges were first detailed in a warrant issued February 13, 2001. A third parole violation charge was added on March 12, 2001, charging plaintiff with fleeing and eluding police.3
Plaintiff waived his right to a preliminary hearing under M.C.L. § 791 .239a. On April 19, 2001, plaintiff appeared before a Department of Corrections administrative law examiner (ALE) and received notice of the charges against him and the time, place, and purpose of the fact-finding hearing as required by M.C.L. § 791.240a(2). Plaintiff admitted that he had used cocaine and had failed to report to his parole officer. However, plaintiff denied the third parole violation charge, the commission of the criminal offense of fleeing and eluding police. Plaintiff asked to present evidence in mitigation of the parole violations pursuant to M.C.L. § 791.240a(2)(d). He did not object to the date of the fact-finding hearing, which was scheduled for May 16, 2001.
At the fact-finding hearing, the ALE noted that the plaintiff had pleaded guilty of the first two counts alleging violation of the conditions of parole. The third count, alleging commission of a criminal offense, was dismissed pursuant to M.C.L. § 791.240a(1) for failure to hold a hearing within forty-five days of the date of plaintiff's arrest, March 11, 2001. Nevertheless, the ALE accepted evidence in mitigation of that offense.4 The ALE determined that plaintiff was in violation of the conditions of his parole as charged in the first two counts of the warrant, ruling that plaintiff's guilty plea provided a sufficient factual basis to establish the charged violations by a preponderance of the evidence. The ALE recommended a revocation of plaintiff's parole and continuation of plaintiff's incarceration for eighteen months before again considering plaintiff for parole.5 The parole board adopted the ALE's recommendation.
Plaintiff filed a complaint for a writ of habeas corpus in the circuit court, contending that he was entitled to discharge from prison because the fact-finding hearing was not held until the sixty-sixth day of his availability for return to a state correctional facility. The circuit court denied the requested relief. Plaintiff then filed a complaint for habeas corpus relief in the Court of Appeals,6 which entered an order of habeas corpus discharging plaintiff from prison and returning him to the jurisdiction of the parole board. Unpublished opinion per curiam, issued November 30, 2001 (Docket No. 236835).
The Attorney General, on behalf of the Department of Corrections, filed an application for leave to appeal the judgment of the Court of Appeals. This Court issued a stay of the Court of Appeals decision and granted defendant's application for leave to appeal. 467 Mich. 884, 653 N.W.2d 403 (2002).
At issue in this case is whether a parolee accused of a parole violation is entitled to discharge from prison where a fact-finding hearing on the charge is not held within forty-five days as required by M.C.L. § 791.240a(1). This Court reviews de novo the interpretation and application of a statute as a question of law. Cruz v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co., 466 Mich. 588, 594, 648 N.W.2d 591 (2002); People v. Thousand, 465 Mich. 149, 156, 631 N.W.2d 694 (2001). If the language of the statute is clear, "no further analysis is necessary or allowed to expand what the Legislature clearly intended to cover." Miller v. Mercy Mem. Hosp., 466 Mich. 196, 201, 644 N.W.2d 730 (2002).
A prisoner enjoys no constitutional or inherent right to be conditionally released from a validly imposed sentence. See Greenholtz v. Inmates of Nebraska Penal & Correctional Complex, 442 U.S. 1, 7, 99 S.Ct. 2100, 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979); People v. Malmquist, 155 Mich.App. 521, 400 N.W.2d 317 (1986).7 Furthermore, parole revocation is not a stage of a criminal prosecution. See Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 782, 93 S.Ct. 1756, 36 L.Ed.2d 656 (1973); Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 480, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972). However, pursuant to Morrissey, limited due process requirements, including notice and the opportunity to be heard, apply to the loss of liberty occasioned by parole revocation.
The granting, rescission, and revocation of parole in Michigan is overseen by the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles pursuant to M.C.L. § 791.231 et seq. This statutory scheme makes clear that, with limited exception,8 matters of parole lie solely within the broad discretion of the parole board, and that the freedom enjoyed by a paroled prisoner is a limited freedom.9 The release of a prisoner on parole "shall be granted solely upon the initiative of the parole board," M.C.L. § 791.235(1), and a paroled prisoner remains in the legal custody and under the control of the Department of Corrections, M.C.L. § 791.238(1). A parole is "a permit to the prisoner to leave the prison," not a release. MCL 791.238(6). Furthermore, a parolee may be arrested without a warrant where there exists reasonable cause to believe that he has violated parole. MCL 791.239.
The procedural requirements of M.C.L. § 791.240a serve to protect the due process interests, as outlined by Morrissey, of a parolee whose liberty is at stake by virtue of a charge of parole violation. However, contrary to the holding of the Court of Appeals in this case, M.C.L. § 791.240a neither deprives the parole board of jurisdiction to revoke parole nor requires the discharge of a parolee where the required hearing has been delayed beyond the forty-five-day period prescribed.
MCL 791.240a(1) provides:
Within 45 days after a paroled prisoner has been returned or is available for return to a state correctional facility under accusation of a parole violation other than conviction for a felony or misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment under the laws of this state, the United States, or any other state or territory of the United States, the prisoner is entitled to a fact-finding hearing on the charges before 1 member of the parole board or an attorney hearings officer designated by the chairperson of the parole board. The fact-finding hearing shall be conducted only after the accused parolee has had a reasonable amount of time to prepare a defense. The fact-finding hearing may be held at a state correctional facility or at or near the location of the alleged violation.
The Court of Appeals "reluctantly" held that it was required, pursuant to this Court's decision in Stewart v. Dep't of Corrections, 382 Mich. 474, 170 N.W.2d 16 (1969), to order plaintiff's release from prison because the fact-finding hearing was not held within forty-five days of his availability for return to the Department of Corrections as required by M.C.L. § 791.240a(1). The panel further opined that habeas corpus relief was appropriate on the basis of this Court's order granting such relief to an alleged parole violator in In re Lane, 377 Mich. 695, 387 N.W.2d 912 (1966), after a Court of Appeals panel had determined that a writ of mandamus was the appropriate remedy for the failure to hold a timely parole violation hearing.10 However, the panel urged this Court to reconsider Stewart and Lane:
In light of these Supreme Court cases, we have little option but to grant plaintiff's requested relief. However, we urge defendant to seek review in the Supreme Court and for the Supreme Court to reverse us. We agree with our prior opinion in Lane [2 Mich.App. 140, 138 N.W.2d 541 (1965) ] that mandamus is a more appropriate remedy than habeas corpus. We see little rational reason to require that plaintiff be returned to parole status. It would seem to us that if defendant violates the forty-five-day rule, it could properly be remedied by mandamus. It might perhaps even be appropriate to require that a parolee be released from detention on the forty-sixth day. However, we find nothing in the statute or in common sense to justify entitling plaintiff to a return to parole status, particularly in light of parole violations to which he has admitted. [Slip op at 2, 2001 WL 1545705 at *2.]
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