Wright v. Settle

Decision Date28 July 1961
Docket NumberNo. 16839.,16839.
Citation293 F.2d 317
PartiesJames B. WRIGHT, Appellant, v. Dr. R. O. SETTLE, Warden, United States Medical Center, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

James B. Wright, pro se.

F. Russell Millin, U. S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., filed no response or answer for appellee.

Before JOHNSEN, Chief Judge, and MATTHES, Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant had been granted a conditional release, as if on parole, under 18 U.S.C.A. § 4164. Subsequently, a warrant was issued and executed upon him, under §§ 4205 and 4206, for violation of the conditions of the release. The order of release was thereafter revoked and the release terminated by the Board of Parole, under § 4207.

Appellant thereupon sought to gain his freedom from the return thus made of him to custody, through an application to the District Court for a writ of habeas corpus. The basis alleged for the writ was that he was not accorded a hearing before a United States District Judge or a United States Commissioner on the conditional-release violation asserted against him. He did not claim that he was not "given an opportunity to appear before the Board, a member thereof, or an examiner designated by the Board", under the provision of § 4207. To the contrary, his contention was, that the Board could not legally terminate his conditional release and return him to the custody of the Attorney General without first bringing him before a Commissioner or a District Judge and affording him judicially "a chance to defend himself".

As the trial court held, however, the revocation of a conditional release or parole is a matter which Congress has made subject entirely to administrative and not judicial process, as one of the elements in the statutory scheme for the granting and administering of these privileges. Conditional releases and paroles do not have existence or incidents, except such as the statutes creating them provide. One who is given a conditional release or a parole takes it as a matter of law on the basis of the statutes. He cannot claim rights or privileges thereunder except such as can expressly or implicitly be found in the language of the statutes.

Neither expressly nor implicitly, do the statutes grant any right to a judicial determination of the facts on a question of violation, or to a review of the judgment exercised by the Board of Parole as to the making of revocation. All that one who has been given a conditional release or parole is entitled to be protected against is that he not be returned to custody except by the processes and on the basis under which the statutes allow the Board to act.

The processes under which the statutes allow the Board to act are the issuing and execution of a warrant and the giving of an opportunity to the prisoner to appear and to be heard before the Board, a member thereof, or a hearing examiner. §§ 4205, 4206, 4207. The basis under which the statutes allow the Board...

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15 cases
  • Hyser v. Reed
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit
    • 11 Abril 1963
    ...into operation. And there is no indication that Congress did not intend this. See Note, 72 Yale L.J. 368, 378 (1962); Wright v. Settle, 293 F.2d 317 (8th Cir. 1961) ("The basis under which the statutes allow the Board to act is the existence of a violation of the conditional release or paro......
  • United States ex rel. Carioscia v. Meisner
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois
    • 10 Septiembre 1971
    ...Richardson v. Markley, 339 F.2d 967, 970 (7th Cir. 1965), cert. denied 382 U.S. 851, 86 S.Ct. 100, 15 L.Ed.2d 90; Wright v. Settle, 293 F.2d 317, 319 (8th Cir. 1961); Davis v. United States, 288 F.Supp. 180, 181 (W.D.Mo.1968); Young v. Parker, 256 F.Supp. 1002, 1004 (M.D.Pa.1966). We believ......
  • Bradley v. Fairfax, 80-1129
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit
    • 26 Noviembre 1980
    ...Ciccone, 517 F.2d 1082 (8th Cir. 1975); United States ex rel. Carioscia v. Meisner, 331 F.Supp. 635 (N.D. Ill. 1971); cf. Wright v. Settle, 293 F.2d 317 (8th Cir. 1961) (habeas corpus petition does not provide opportunity to produce evidence regarding violation of conditions of We are reluc......
  • Scarpa v. US Board of Parole
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 28 Junio 1972
    ...v. Harris, 349 F.2d 404, 405 (8th Cir. 1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 965, 86 S.Ct. 455, 15 L.Ed.2d 369 (1965). Cf. Wright v. Settle, 293 F.2d 317, 319 (8th Cir. 1961). By his petition appellant seeks a redetermination by the court by his eligibility for parole. The courts have no jurisdicti......
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