Opinion ID: 590886
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: liberty interest in parole

Text: 32 As we already have noted, in Greenholtz and Allen, the Supreme Court made clear that a state may create a liberty interest in parole by using mandatory language (e.g., shall) to create a presumption that parole will be granted when objective criteria are met. Wisconsin's mandatory release statute clearly creates such an interest. Wis.Stat.Ann. § 302.11, leaves no room for uncertainty: all state inmates are entitled to mandatory release on parole when they have completed two-thirds of their sentence, unless they have violated prison regulations so as to extend the date of their mandatory release. 2 Unlike the discretionary parole statutes at issue in Greenholtz and Allen, 3 which involve a parole board's weighing factors to determine whether or not to release an inmate on parole, the Wisconsin statute leaves no room for discretion in mandatory release; when an inmate has served two-thirds of his sentence (adjusted for time served in administrative segregation or for rules violations), the inmate is entitled to be released. 33 A mandatory release parolee is a prisoner released pursuant to [the predecessor to § 302.11] when he has served his sentence less credits for good time granted and not forfeited. He is referred to as a mandatory release parolee because the department has no discretion to deny his release unless the prisoner waives his good time. The mandatory release parolee is distinguished from the discretionary parolee. The latter is released at the discretion of the department under [the predecessor to § 304.06] when he or she has served a minimum portion of the sentence. 34 State ex rel. Bieser v. Percy, 97 Wis.2d 702, 295 N.W.2d 179, 181 (Wis.Ct.App.1980) (citation omitted). Thus, for the reasons articulated by the Court in Greenholtz and Allen, we agree with Mr. Felce that Wisconsin's mandatory release statute creates a protectible liberty interest. 35