Nicholas v. Wainwright
| Decision Date | 24 April 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 32308,32308 |
| Citation | 152 So.2d 458 |
| Parties | Claude Wayne NICHOLAS, Petitioner, v. Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Division of Corrections, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Claude Wayne Nicholas, petitioner, in pro. per.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and A. G. Spicola, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
An original petition for a writ of habeas corpus questions the legality of petitioner's restraint because of an alleged invalid forfeiture of gain time.
The petition and return present for consideration the construction of applicable statutes governing gain time for state prisoners.
On December 7, 1954, petitioner Nicholas was sentenced to a ten-year term in the state prison for the crime of robbery. On April 7, 1958, petitioner was sentenced to an additional year in prison for the crime of escape. The sentences were to run consecutively. If allowed gain time under applicable provisions, petitioner would now be entitled to release. During the course of his imprisonment petitioner committed various breaches of discipline. For such conduct he suffered a loss of gain time totalling 697 days. Petitioner questions the legality of the procedure employed in cancelling the gain time. He insists that since his gain time was not legally cancelled he is now entitled to credit therefor, and hence, immediate release. This contention leads us to applicable gain time statutes and rules of the Division of Corrections promulgated pursuant thereto.
Prior to 1957, gain time for good conduct was provided by Section 954.06, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. By this act the Legislature itself stipulated the extent of gain time allowances with authorized deductions for misconduct. To the extent that Section 954.06, supra, was applicable to state prisoners it was repealed by Chapter 57-121, Laws of 1957. Former Section 954.06, supra, to the extent applicable to county prisoners, has been revised and is now cited as Section 951.21, Florida Statutes, F.S.A.
The Florida Corrections Code of 1957 was adopted by Chapter 57-121, Laws of 1957, and now comprises Chapter 944, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. Sections 944.27 and 944.28, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., now govern so-called good conduct gain time credits.
By Section 944.27, supra, the matter of providing for gain time credits is made a responsibility of the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions which we shall refer to as 'The Board.' By Section 944.27, supra, the warden or superintendent of the prison institution is authorized to certify prisoners for gain time credits on the basis of their conduct and work. Such certification is accomplished by a report to the Division of Corrections. The recommended gain time credits shall be allowed to the prisoner upon such certification 'but not until, the adoption of such recommendations by the board, * * *.' The net effect of this provision is that the Board allows the gain time on the recommendation of the warden or superintendent.
Section 944.28, supra, authorizes the Board, upon the recommendation of the Director of the Division of Corrections, to declare a forfeiture of any or all gain time allowances previously earned. This may be done upon a finding of the commission of described offenses or breaches of discipline. Here again it is the ultimate responsibility of the Board to declare the forfeiture.
We do not here deal with so-called extra gain time allowances authorized by Section 944.29, Florida Statutes, F.S.A.
By Section 945.21, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., 'The board is authorized to adopt and promulgate regulations governing the administration of the correctional system and the operation of the division. * * *' By this section the Board was specifically authorized to adopt regulations relating to gain time for good conduct.
By regulations promulgated December 16, 1958, the Board provided that 'the Director of the Division of Corrections is required to forfeit and make reduction of gain time credits on the following grounds for forfeiture of gain time credits.' The regulation then prescribes certain grounds for forfeiture. The same regulation provides:
'The Director of the Division of Corrections is hereby authorized to delegate to the Deputy Director most directly concerned with the administration of this phase of the correctional program the authority granted to the Director by this resolution in order to facilitate the rapid adminstration of the gain time program;'
The ultimate effect of the regulations adopted by the Board is to grant to the Director the responsibility of supervising the gain time program and in turn, authorizing him to designate a deputy director to exercise this function. The result is that while the...
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Jacobson v. Fla. Sec'y of State, No. 19-14552
...without good reason: Florida law is clear that when a regulation and a statute conflict, the statute prevails. See Nicholas v. Wainwright , 152 So. 2d 458, 460 (Fla. 1963). The partial dissent asserts that in this scenario the Supervisors would likely follow the Secretary’s instructions ove......
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Jacobson v. Fla. Sec'y of State, No. 19-14552
...without good reason: Florida law is clear that when a regulation and a statute conflict, the statute prevails. See Nicholas v. Wainwright , 152 So. 2d 458, 460 (Fla. 1963). The dissent asserts that in this scenario the Supervisors would likely follow the Secretary's instructions over the st......
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McLaughlin v. Dhsmv
...920 (11th Cir.2007); Fla. Dep't of Revenue v. A. Duda & Sons, Inc., 608 So.2d 881, 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992) (citing Nicholas v. Wainwright, 152 So.2d 458, 460 (Fla.1963), and Canal Ins. Co. v. Cont'l Cas. Co., 489 So.2d 136, 138 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)). Thus, we cannot say that the circuit court......
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Johnson v. State
...gain time is not absolute but is conditioned upon satisfactory service of the sentence as required by the statute.Nicholas v. Wainwright , 152 So.2d 458, 461 (Fla. 1963) (citation omitted). The statutes permit the accrual, forfeiture, and reinstatement of gain time, with different rules app......