Opinion ID: 678573
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Georgia Parole System

Text: 33 In examining these three factors in relation to the Georgia parole system, we must keep in mind that our analysis is inherently subjective. The Supreme Court has recognized that [n]either the drafting of regulations nor their interpretation can be reduced to an exact science. Thompson, 490 U.S. at 462, 109 S.Ct. at 1909. The Georgia statutes and regulations must be read together to derive the overriding purpose and function of the parole guidelines system. With this caveat in mind, we proceed to analyze the Georgia parole system in light of the three factors set forth above. 34 First, we must determine whether the system places substantive predicates on the discretion of state officials. See Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 249, 103 S.Ct. 1741, 1747, 75 L.Ed.2d 813 (1983). The inmate must establish that the statute or regulations provide particularized criteria for the decisionmaker to follow, id., and that these standards meaningfully constrain the discretion of state officials, Allen, 482 U.S. at 384, 107 S.Ct. at 2424 (O'Connor, J., dissenting). In Slocum, we recognized the critical distinction between 'a scheme that requires release unless adverse findings based on [specific] criteria are made [and] a scheme that simply obligates the board to consider such criteria in exercising its discretion.'  Slocum, 678 F.2d at 941 (quoting Boothe v. Hammock, 605 F.2d 661, 664 (2d Cir.1979)) (alteration in original). 35 We conclude that the Georgia parole system more closely fits within the latter category. Without a doubt, the Guidelines provide a set of particularized criteria that the Board must consider in making parole determinations. The crucial inquiry, however, is whether the relevant statutes and regulations provide standards that meaningfully limit the discretion of the decisionmakers. Not only do the Guidelines leave the Board significant discretion in applying the various factors, but the Board, in promulgating the Guidelines, expressly reserved the authority to depart from the grid recommendation. The criteria in the Guidelines provide a framework to help the Board make a more consistent, soundly based, prompt, and explainable parole decision. Parole Decision Guidelines System, Annexure 2. The Guidelines were not intended to produce a predetermined outcome upon rote application of specific criteria. 36 Sultenfuss places great reliance on language from the parole statute mandating that the guidelines system shall be used in determining parole actions on all inmates. O.C.G.A. Sec. 42-9-40. He argues that this language and the language in the Guidelines dictating the criteria to be considered constitute specific, substantive limitations on the board's exercise of discretion. Appellant's En Banc Brief at 20-21. We disagree; this language is consistent with the substantial discretion that the Guidelines reserve for the Board. The Board's decision to depart from the grid recommendation does not mean that the Guidelines were not used in determining parole action. The Board may utilize the Guidelines as a framework for making parole determinations, while still exercising the authority to depart from the grid recommendation if other factors, not adequately considered by the Guidelines, warrant such a decision. Therefore, we find that Georgia's parole system does not place limitations on the Board's discretion sufficient to create a liberty interest in parole. 37 Second, we examine whether the system mandates the outcome that must be reached if the relevant criteria have been met. Thompson, 490 U.S. at 462, 109 S.Ct. at 1909. Where the statute or regulation creates a presumption that release will be granted upon a finding that the substantive predicates have been met, 8 a liberty interest in parole exists. Thompson, 490 U.S. at 463-64, 109 S.Ct. at 1910. In those cases where the Supreme Court has found a liberty interest, the Court has focused on the presumption of release found in the relevant statute or guidelines. See, e.g., Allen, 482 U.S. at 376, 107 S.Ct. at 2420 (the board shall release on parole ... any [inmate] when in its opinion there is reasonable probability that the prisoner can be released without detriment to the prisoner or to the community (emphasis omitted) (first alteration in original)); Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 470 n. 6, 103 S.Ct. 864, 871 n. 6, 74 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983) (If no behavior violation has occurred, the inmate must be released as soon as the reason for the security concern has abated....); Greenholtz, 442 U.S. at 11, 99 S.Ct. at 2106 (the Board ... shall order [the inmate's] release unless it is of the opinion that his release should be deferred because one of four criteria is met). 38 We do not find such a mandate in the Georgia statutes and regulations. Neither the relevant statutes nor the Guidelines contain any language mandating the outcome that must be reached after application of the specified procedures. Conversely, the Georgia statutes actually create a presumption against parole. Section 42-9-42, O.C.G.A., provides that [n]o inmate shall be placed on parole until and unless the board shall find that there is reasonable probability that, if he is so released, he will live and conduct himself as a respectable and law-abiding person and that his release will be compatible with his own welfare and the welfare of society. O.C.G.A. Sec. 42-9-42(c). This section must be read as a qualification of section 42-9-40, the provision requiring adoption of the parole guideline system. Thus, while the legislature has required the Board to adopt a guideline system to be used as a framework for making more consistent parole decisions, it also preserved the Board's authority to use its discretion in making final parole decisions. 9 The statute and regulations, therefore, do not mandate that release be granted if the Guidelines criteria is met. 39 Finally, we look at the relevant statute and regulations to see if they contain explicitly mandatory language directing the decisionmaker to follow certain procedures. Thompson, 490 U.S. at 462, 109 S.Ct. at 1909-10. Although this third factor largely merges with the second, we find the use of explicitly mandatory language to be an important factor in determining whether a liberty interest exists. 40 It should be obvious that the mandatory language requirement is not an invitation to courts to search regulations for any imperative that might be found. The search is for relevant mandatory language that expressly requires the decisionmaker to apply certain substantive predicates in determining whether an inmate may be deprived of the particular interest in question. 41 Id. at 464 n. 4, 109 S.Ct. at 1910 n. 4. We recognized this crucial distinction in Staton v. Wainwright, 665 F.2d 686 (5th Cir. Unit B), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 909, 102 S.Ct. 1757, 72 L.Ed.2d 166 (1982), where we found no protectable liberty interest in the Florida parole statutes. Although the Florida statutes were replete with mandatory language, we recognized that this language dictated what criteria should be considered, not what result must follow if those criteria are met. Id. at 688. 42 Similarly, as the panel in this case recognized, the Georgia statutes and regulations frequently use mandatory language. See Sultenfuss, 7 F.3d at 1547-49 (highlighting use of the word shall in the relevant statutes and regulations). We find no mandatory language, however, expressly dictating the outcome that must follow if the criteria are met. The statutes mandate the implementation of a guidelines system, and the Guidelines mandate certain procedures that must be followed. But the Guidelines do not mandate release if the criteria are met. As noted above, the statutory presumption is against parole unless certain subjective criteria are satisfied. See O.C.G.A. Sec. 42-9-42. 43 Viewing Georgia's parole system in its entirety, we conclude that no protected liberty interest in parole is created. To give rise to a liberty interest in parole, the statutes and regulations must meaningfully limit the discretion of state officials. Here, the substantial discretion reserved by the Board belies any claim to a reasonable expectation of parole. Although the Board is required to follow some relatively strict procedures, the statutes and the Guidelines, acting in conjunction, do not mandate the grant of parole if specified criteria are satisfied. Instead, the system contains a statutory presumption against parole and an explicit reservation of authority to depart from the grid recommendation, negating any reasonable claim of an entitlement to parole. 44