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Interstate Commissioner for Audlt Offender Supervision (ICAOS) Logo

Bench Book - 4.7.1 General Considerations

Supervised individuals, including those under ICAOS supervision, have limited rights. Conditional release is a privilege not guaranteed by the Constitution; it is an act of grace, a matter of pure discretion on the part of sentencing or corrections authorities. See Escoe v. Zerbst, 295 U.S. 490 (1935); Burns v. United States, 287 U.S. 216 (1932); United States ex rel. Harris v. Ragen, 177 F.2d 303 (7th Cir. 1949); Wray v. State, 472 So. 2d 1119 (Ala. 1985); People v. Reyes, 968 P.2d 445 (Calif. 1998); People v. Ickler, 877 P.2d 863 (Colo. 1994); Carradine v. United States, 420 A.2d 1385 (D.C. 1980); Haiflich v. State, 285 So. 2d 57 (Fla. Ct. App. 1973); State v. Edelblute, 424 P.2d 739 (Idaho 1967); People v. Johns, 795 N.E.2d 433 (Ill. Ct. App. 2003); Johnson v. State, 659 N.E.2d 194 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995); State v. Billings, 39 P.3d 682 (Kan. Ct. App. 2002); State v. Malone, 403 So. 2d 1234 (La. 1981); Wink v. State, 563 A.2d 414 (Md. 1989); People v. Moon, 337 N.W.2d 293 (Mich. Ct. App.1983); Smith v. State, 580 So.2d 1221 (Miss. 1991); State v. Brantley, 353 S.W.2d 793 (Mo. 1962); State v. Mendoza, 579 P.2d 1255 (N.M. 1978). Some courts have held that revoking probation or parole merely returns the supervised individual to the same status enjoyed before being granted probation, parole or conditional pardon. See Woodward v. Murdock, 24 N.E. 1047 (Ind. 1890); Commonwealth ex rel. Meredith v. Hall, 126 S.W.2d 1056 (Ky. 1939); Guy v. Utecht, 12 NW2d 753 (Minn. 1943).

Supervised individuals enjoy some modicum of due process, particularly with regards to revocation, which impacts the retaking process. In addition to the rules of the Commission, several U.S. Supreme Court cases uphold the process for returning supervised individuals for violating the condition of their supervision. See e.g., Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471 (1972) (parolee entitled to revocation hearing); Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778 (1973) (probationer entitled to revocation hearing); Carchman v. Nash, 473 U.S. 716 (1985) (probation-violation charge results in a probation-revocation hearing to determine if the conditions of probation should be modified or the probationer should be resentenced; probationer entitled to less than the full panoply of due process rights accorded at a criminal trial). The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that supervised individuals subject to probation or parole have some liberty interests, but that they need not be afforded the “full panoply of rights” enjoyed by defendants in a pretrial status, because the presumption of innocence has evaporated. Due process requirements apply equally to parole and probation revocation. See Gagnon, supra.

References

Definitions

Click terms below to reveal definitions used in this rule.

Probable Cause Hearing – a hearing in compliance with the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, conducted on behalf of a supervised individual accused of violating the terms or conditions of the supervised individual‘s parole or probation.

Retaking - means the act of a sending state physically removing or causing to have a supervised individual removed, from a receiving state.

Supervision – means the oversight exercised by authorities of a sending or receiving state over a supervised individual for a period of time determined by a court or releasing authority, during which time the supervised individual is required to report to or be monitored by supervising authorities, and to comply with regulations and conditions, other than monetary conditions, imposed on the supervised individual at the time of release to the community or during the period of supervision in the community.