Clay v. Massachusetts Parole Board

Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree. Petitioner was a juvenile when the crime was committed. Thirty years later, the Supreme Judicial Court determined that any juvenile offender who had been convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole became eligible for parole within sixty days before the expiration of fifteen years of his life sentence. Therefore, Petitioner became immediately eligible to be considered for parole. Four out of seven members of the parole board panel voted in favor of parole. The parole board refused to grant a parole permit because, pursuant to a 2012 amendment to Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 127, 133A, a parole permit can only be granted by a vote of two-thirds of the parole board members on the panel. Petitioner appealed, arguing that the application of the amendment to his parole determination, rather than the version in effect at the time he committed the crime, was an ex post facto violation. The Supreme Judicial Court reversed the parole board’s decision, holding (1) the supermajority amendment was applied retroactively to Petitioner; and (2) the amendment was, as applied to Petitioner, an ex post facto violation. View "Clay v. Massachusetts Parole Board" on Justia Law