120 CMR 304.02 - Appeal of Decision of Hearing Panel
(1) An inmate may appeal a decision of a
parole hearing panel to deny, rescind or revoke parole. An inmate may also
appeal the grant of parole when such release is granted on a date other than
the initial parole eligibility date, and/or the imposition of special
conditions of parole. Any appeal must be made in writing and within 30 days of
the subject's receipt of written notice of the decision.
(a) Where the hearing panel was made up
entirely of Parole Board members, these same members shall vote on the appeal
unless the members are unavailable or disqualified. As needed, additional
Parole Board members will be asked to vote until at least two Parole Board
members agree on the appeal decision.
(b) Where the hearing panel was composed of
one or more hearing examiners and reviewed by a single Parole Board member, the
hearing examiner(s) and the Parole Board member shall vote on the appeal. If
there is unanimity on the vote, that vote shall be the final decision of the
appeal hearing panel. If there is no unanimity, then other Parole Board members
shall be asked to vote in succession on the appeal. When two Parole Board
members agree, their vote shall determine the decision on the appeal.
(c) The appeals panel may render its decision
without conducting a hearing on the appeal.
(2) If an appeal is denied by the hearing
panel, the inmate may further appeal to the full Parole Board within 30 days of
receiving notice of the appeal decision. The further appeal is precluded if the
full Parole Board made the initial decision to deny the appeal.
(a) The Parole Board may vote to: deny the
appeal; overturn the decision of the parole hearing panel and render another
decision; or overturn the decision of the parole hearing panel and schedule the
inmate for another parole hearing.
(b) A decision of the full Parole Board is
final. An inmate may not file a petition for reconsideration upon grounds
previously reviewed as an appeal.
(3) Appeals under 120 CMR 304.02 are based on
grounds including, but not limited to, one or more of the following:
(a) That the decision was not supported by
the reasons or facts as stated.
(b)
That the decision was based on erroneous information and the actual facts
justify a different decision.
(c)
That the hearing panel did not follow correct procedure in deciding the case,
and a different decision would have resulted if the error had not
occurred.
(d) There was significant
relevant information in existence but not known to the parole hearing panel at
the time of the hearing.
(e) Under
the circumstances, the special conditions of parole no longer further the
interests of justice and should be amended by the Parole Board
members.
(4) The inmate
must submit any appeal to the Institutional Parole Officer in writing and must
specifically cite one or more reasons noted in 120 CMR 304.02(3), as a basis
for the appeal. Any appeal not meeting the requirements of 120 CMR 304.02(3)
will be returned to the inmate with an explanation as to why the appeal was not
processed. The inmate may correct any noncompliance with 120 CMR 304.02(3) and
resubmit the appeal within 30 days after receiving notice that the appeal did
not meet with the requirements of that subsection.
(5) The institutional parole staff notifies
the inmate in writing of any appeal decision.
Notes
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