J. Wayne Garner, Former Chairman of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles of Georgia, et al. v. Robert L. Jones (529 U.S. 244)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 28, 2000 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 529 U.S. 244 · 120 S. Ct. 1362
- Decided
- March 28, 2000
- Term
- October Term 1999
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted certiorari to decide whether the retroactive application of a Georgia law permitting the extension of intervals between parole considerations violates the Ex Post Fasto Clause. The Court of Appeals found that retroactive application of the change in the law was necessarily an ex post facto violation. In disagreement with that determination, we reverse its judgment and remand for further proceedings. t — I In 1974 respondent Robert L. Jones began serving a life sentence after Ms conviction for murder in the State of Georgia. He escaped from prison some five years later and, after being a fugitive for over two years, committed another murder. He was apprehended, convicted, and in 1982 sentenced to a second life term. Under Georgia law, at all times relevant here, the State’s Board of Pardons and Paroles (Board or Parole Board) has been required to consider inmates serving life sentences for parole after seven years. Ga. Code Ann. §42-9-45(b) (1982). The issue in this case concerns the interval between proceedings to reconsider those inmates for parole after its initial denial. At the time respondent committed his second offense, the Board’s Rules required reconsiderations to take place every three years. Ga. Rules & Regs., Rule 475-3-.05(2) (1979). In 1985, after respondent had begun serving his second life…
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