Opinion ID: 2046794
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Ripeness of Issue.

Text: Before we consider the merits of the issue before us, we must preliminarily address the defendant's contention that the issue is not ripe for determination. The defendant asserts that the 85% rule of sections 902.12 and 903A.2(1)( b ) operates as a limitation on the executive branch, namely, the Department of Corrections and the Board of Parole. He contends, therefore, that the district court's only duty is to impose an indeterminate ten-year sentence pursuant to Iowa Code section 902.9. Not until the executive branch agencies determine whether the defendant may be released on parole or work release will the applicability of sections 902.12 and 903A.2(1)( b ) be implicated, he argues. A case is ripe for adjudication when it presents an actual, present controversy, as opposed to one that is merely hypothetical or speculative. See State v. Backes, 601 N.W.2d 374, 375 (Iowa App.1999); Black's Law Dictionary 1328 (6th ed.1990). The basic rationale for the ripeness doctrine is to prevent the courts, through avoidance of premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements over administrative policies, and also to protect the agencies from judicial interference until an administrative decision has been formalized and its effects felt in a concrete way by the challenging parties. Abbott Lab. v. Gardner, 387 U.S. 136, 148-49, 87 S.Ct. 1507, 1515, 18 L.Ed.2d 681, 691 (1967), overruled on other grounds by Califano v. Sanders, 430 U.S. 99, 105, 97 S.Ct. 980, 984, 51 L.Ed.2d 192, 199 (1977); accord 2 Am.Jur.2d Administrative Law § 485, at 474-75 (1994). Our first step here is to determine whether the ripeness doctrine is even implicated. In other words, is the applicability of sections 902.12 and 903A.2(1)( b ) an administrative decision for the Department of Corrections and Board of Parole, or is it a judicial decision for the sentencing court? For the reasons that follow, we think this question is one for the courts to decide. Although the legislature prescribes the punishment for crimes, the actual sentencing of a defendant is an independent function that is the sole province of the judiciary. See State v. Iowa Dist. Ct. for Shelby County, 308 N.W.2d 27, 30 (Iowa 1981). A sentencing court must designate[] the maximum term established by statute. Unless the legislature has prescribed a minimum term which must be served, the duration of the sentence is determined by the parole board. When a minimum sentence is prescribed, however, the legislature ordinarily requires a judicial determination of its applicability. State v. Wilson, 314 N.W.2d 408, 409 (Iowa 1982) (citation omitted). We turn now to the statutes at issue to determine whether they establish a mandatory minimum sentence. Iowa Code section 902.12 provides that persons convicted of specified forcible felonies shall serve one hundred percent of the maximum term of the person's sentence and shall not be released on parole or work release, except as otherwise provided in section 903A.2. Section 903A.2 in general allows inmates to reduce their sentences for good behavior, earning a reduction of sentence of one day for each day of good conduct and up to five additional days per month for satisfactory participation in designated activities. See Iowa Code § 903A.2(1)( a ). Inmates sentenced pursuant to section 902.12, however, are limited to a total reduction of only 15% of their sentences. See id. § 903A.2(1)( b ). The practical effect of these two statutes is to require that a defendant convicted of a forcible felony listed in section 902.12 must serve at least 85% of his sentence. See State v. Phillips, 610 N.W.2d 840, 841 (Iowa 2000). The fact that section 902.12 was placed in chapter 902, governing the sentencing of felons, rather than in chapter 903A, governing the reduction of sentences for good conduct, indicates a legislative intent that section 902.12 operate as a minimum sentence as opposed to a restriction on the power of the parole board. See Wharton v. Iowa Bd. of Parole, 463 N.W.2d 416, 417 (Iowa 1990); Wilson, 314 N.W.2d at 409-10. Of course, section 903A.2 is found in the chapter governing reduction of sentences for good conduct time and so would function as a limitation on the executive agencies administering the sentence imposed by the court. But the express terms of section 902.12 require that section 903A.2 be considered as a qualification of the minimum sentence that must be served by felons subject to section 902.12. We hold, therefore, that these statutes together impose a mandatory minimum sentence and, accordingly, it is the court's obligation to determine their applicability to a particular defendant. This conclusion is bolstered by the fact that the factual predicate for application of these statutesthe commission of one of the specified forcible feloniesis necessarily adjudicated in the criminal proceeding. See Wilson, 314 N.W.2d at 410 (noting that statutes imposing a mandatory minimum sentence generally require that the facts upon which the minimum sentence is grounded be established at trial). For these reasons, we conclude that the ripeness doctrine is not implicated and does not prevent our review of the issue in this case.