Court Opinion

ID: 9428416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:23:45.267593+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:13.344550
License: Public Domain

Justice Beenktan,
concurring.
I join the Court’s opinion. Although respondents have demonstrated a statistical likelihood of obtaining the relief they request, that is not enough to create a protectible liberty interest. Rather, respondents must also show — by reference to statute, regulation, administrative practice, contractual arrangement or other mutual understanding — that particularized standards or criteria guide the State’s decisionmakers. See Leis v. Flynt, 439 U. S. 438, 442 (1979); Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U. S. 593, 601 (1972); Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U. S. 564, 577 (1972). The structure of the State’s decisionmaking process is thus as significant as the likely result of that process. Respondents have not shown that the Board is required to base its decisions on objective and defined criteria. As in Meachum, v. Fano, 427 U. S. 215, 228 (1976), the decisionmaker can deny the requested relief for any constitutionally permissible reason or for no reason at all. Accordingly, I agree that respondents have no protectible liberty interest in a pardon.