The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held that the 2020 amendment changing mandatory parole review for rape convicts from annual to triennial (61 Pa.C.S. § 6139(a)(3.3)) does not violate the ex post facto clause, because it alters only when the Board must conduct review—not the standards for granting parole or the Board’s authority to act on its own motion sooner.
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the denial of a license suspension appeal, holding that Court Administration’s ten-year failure to schedule a hearing — despite repeated court orders to do so — constituted an extraordinary government-caused delay that violated the licensee’s due process rights under the Middaugh framework and mandated dismissal of the suspension.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a sex offender’s subsequent criminal convictions rendered moot his challenge to the reliability of hearsay evidence used in his SORB reclassification from level 2 to level 3, affirming the board’s decision in a case of first impression for published classification appeals.
The Second District affirmed the revocation of NGRI conditional release for a defendant who exhibited a pattern of treatment noncompliance and refusal to accept responsibility for underlying offenses.
The Third Department upholds an administrative determination by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in an Article 78 proceeding, finding it supported by substantial evidence.
The Fifth District holds that body-worn camera footage showing an officer left a DUI suspect alone in a patrol car during the required 15-minute observation period is sufficient to rebut the presumption that breath test procedures were properly followed.
Second District holds that vacatur of a murder conviction under Penal Code section 1172.6 does not establish an “erroneous conviction” entitling the former defendant to compensation under section 4900, because Senate Bill 1437’s narrowing of murder liability was a legislative act o
First District holds that the DMV’s revised hearing structure satisfies due process and rejects the broader ‘appearance of bias’ approach used in Romane v. DMV (now before the California Supreme Court).
Fourth District grants writ relief, holding that Government Code section 27706(g) gives a public defender discretion to decline appointment to represent a habeas petitioner — including a Racial Justice Act claimant — without showing unavailability.