Opinion ID: 1539320
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: compliance with section 32-a

Text: This section authorized transfer of a prisoner for one or more of three reasons (See Footnote Page 1), no one of which is expressed in terms of feasibility or safety. The well being of the prison is involved only when the presence of a prisoner is seriously detrimental to it,the well being of the prison. The authority of the Commissioner of Institutional Service is both created and limited by this statute. The statute is to be strictly construed. The pertinent portion of the purported certificate [6] under which the Commissioner transferred petitioner does not comply with the terms of the statute. Additionally the statute calls for written certification from the Warden to the Commissioner which means a document signed by the person whose responsibility it is to certify. Chapman v. Inhabitants of Limerick, 56 Me. 390, 393, United States v. Naughten, D.C., 195 F.Supp. 157. The certificate upon which this transfer was initiated is unsigned. It is invalid and the transfer by virtue of this certificate was error. Upon consideration, therefore, it is ordered that the petitioner be forthwith returned to the State Prison at Thomaston, Maine, for further execution of his sentence. Appeal sustained as to point VIII only. Case remanded to the Superior Court for the entry of a declaratory judgment decree in accordance with this opinion. WEBBER, J., did not sit.