Opinion ID: 170235
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Creation of a Pre-Release Program

Text: The district court also ordered the Commission to develop a pre-release plan. The Commission argues that it is not required to create this plan until it determines parole is appropriate, which it has not yet done. The district court’s decision that the Commission must develop a release plan is appropriate insofar as the Commission must consider the required elements of the release plan when evaluating the risk Mr. Alexander poses to the public under § 4206(a)(2). However, we cannot agree with the court’s order to set a pre-release date and begin the process toward parole. We believe that this holding was a usurpation of authority vested in the Commission. Although the district court was correct in requiring the Commission to consider release conditions, the Commission is entitled to consider that newly calculated factor in conjunction with § 4206(a)(1), the seriousness of the offense, and of course, Mr. Alexander’s demonstrated rehabilitation. Therefore, to require the Commission to set a release date is premature at this juncture. The Commission, for example, may believe that Mr. Alexander’s release would depreciate the seriousness of the offense so much as to outweigh his rehabilitation. Similarly, the Commission may still find that Mr. Alexander poses a risk to the public even given potential conditions. For example, the -18- Commission has in the past relied on Mr. Alexander’s apparent lack of remorse in evaluating the risk to the public. 28 C.F.R. § 2.64(d)(2); Paz v. Warden, 787 F.2d 469, 473 (10th Cir. 1986) (“We recognize that an offender’s inability to accept responsibility for the wrongfulness of his conduct may properly be considered by the Parole Commission in determining that the offender has not been rehabilitated.”). The Commission might also decide that Mr. Alexander’s lack of remorse is relevant to a § 4206(a)(1) determination, as release would promote “disrespect for the law.” We do not comment on whether or not reliance on that single attribute could make a denial of his parole arbitrary and capricious, though we note that the Commission must give sufficient weight to all factors, including rehabilitation. See Paz, 787 F.2d at 473 (“By overemphasizing [a lack of remorse] in its release decision, and by closing its eyes to overwhelming evidence establishing that Mr. Paz was rehabilitated, we do not think the Commission has complied with the requirements of the YCA, as interpreted in Watts.”). Nor do we decide at this point whether it would be arbitrary and capricious to hold that, twenty-five years after he was sentenced under the YCA, the seriousness of the offense still outweighs Mr. Alexander’s rehabilitation. The authority to make these determinations in the first instance is vested in the Commission—not in the district court. -19-