Lincoln v. Florida Parole Com'n, No. 94-467

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: BENTON
• Citation: 643 So.2d 668
• Parties: 19 Fla. L. Weekly D2176 Booker T. LINCOLN, Appellant, v. FLORIDA PAROLE COMMISSION, Appellee.
• Docket Number: No. 94-467
• Decision Date: 11 October 1994

Page 668

643 So.2d 668 19 Fla. L. Weekly D2176 Booker T. LINCOLN, Appellant,
v.
FLORIDA PAROLE COMMISSION, Appellee. No. 94-467. District Court of Appeal of Florida,
First District. Oct. 11, 1994.

Page 669

Booker T. Lincoln, pro se.

Kurt E. Ahrendt, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Florida Parole Com'n, Tallahassee, for appellee.

BENTON, Judge.

Booker T. Lincoln asks us to reverse the order denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The petition alleges that his release from prison should have been unconditional because his sentence had expired, by virtue of incentive gain-time; but that he was instead placed on conditional release, which has now been revoked, for failure to report as required. To decide the appeal, we consider the relationship among three statutory provisions enacted or amended in 1988, codified as sections 775.084(4)(e), 944.291, and 947.1405, Florida Statutes (1988 Supp.), ¹ and

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their application to prisoners sentenced as habitual offenders. We conclude that appellant's reincarceration was lawful and affirm the trial court's denial of the writ.

Chapter 88-122

In 1988, the Legislature adopted the Conditional Release Program Act (Act), since codified as section 947.1405, Florida Statutes. Ch. 88-122, § 19, at 542-43, Laws of Fla. The Act provides that inmates sentenced, as appellant was, as habitual offenders ² shall

if released prior to serving their full sentences, be supervised for the remainder of the terms of their sentences. Appellee Florida Parole Commission is responsible for administering the conditional release program. The Commission determines when an inmate will be conditionally released and sets the terms and conditions of release, after which the Department of Corrections supervises conditional releasees.

Westlund v. Florida Parole Comm'n, 637 So.2d 52, 53 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). "The commission shall also determine whether the terms and conditions of such release have been violated and whether such violation warrants revocation of conditional release." § 947.1405(2), Fla.Stat. (1988 Supp.). The Act was designed to prevent certain repeat offenders' early, unsupervised release from incarceration, by making them subject to supervision, in the event of early release, and to possible reincarceration.

At one time, any "prisoner who [wa]s released early because of gain-time [wa]s considered to have completed his sentence in full." State v. Green, 547 So.2d 925, 926 (Fla.1989). See Waldrup v. Dugger, 562 So.2d 687 (Fla.1990). But the same law that created the conditional release program amended the gain-time statute, as follows:

944.291 Prisoner release by reason of gain-time allowances.--

[ADDED: (1)] A prisoner who has served his term or terms, less allowable [DELETED: statutory] gain-time deductions [DELETED: and extra good time allowances,] as provided by law, [ADDED: may] [DELETED: shall not], upon release, be [ADDED: placed] under further supervision and control of the department and [DELETED: shall not be] subject to any statute relating to parole. [DELETED: However,] Any [DELETED: such] released prisoner [ADDED: who is not under further supervision and control of the department or who is not subject to any statute relating to parole] shall be eligible, on a voluntary basis, for any assistance available to him through any parole or probation office under the department.

[ADDED: (2)] Any prisoner who is convicted of a crime committed on or after October 1, 1988, which crime is contained in category 1, category 2, category 3, or category 4 of Rule 3.701 and Rule 3.988, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and who has served at least one prior felony commitment at a state or federal correctional institution, or is sentenced as a habitual or violent habitual offender pursuant to s. 775.084, may only be released under conditional release supervision as described in chapter 947.] ...

Ch. 88-122, § 10, at 538, Laws of Fla. (Deletions struck through; additions underlined.) Both sections 10 and 19 of chapter 88-122 evince a legislative intent that a prisoner sentenced as a habitual offender, if released by reason of gain-time allowances, be released conditionally under supervision, in accordance with the Act. ³ This legislative intent is manifest from section 947.1405(2)'s

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specific denomination of habitual offenders and from the provisions of section 944.291(2), restricting habitual offenders' release by reason...