Probation and Parole: Procedural Protection

In Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U.S. 458 (1981), the Court considered whether the Connecticut Board of Pardons's record of granting approximately three-fourths of all applications for commutation of life sentences had in fact created a constitutionally protected interest, calling at least for a statement of reasons when a particular application was denied. The Court held that in the absence of a statute or rule imposing such an obligation on the board, and regardless of how frequently clemency had been granted in the past, no such constitutional protection exists.

In Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard, 118 S.Ct. 1244 (1998), a state prisoner challenged Ohio's clemency process as violating his due process rights. The Court stated:

Clemency proceedings are not part of the trial—or even of the adjudicatory process. They do not determine the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and are not intended primarily to enhance the reliability of the trial process. They are conducted by the Executive Branch, independent of direct appeal and collateral relief proceedings. Greenholtz, 442 U.S. at 7–8. And they are usually discretionary, unlike the more structured and limited scope of judicial proceedings. While traditionally available to capital defendants as a final and alternative avenue of relief, clemency has not traditionally "been the business of courts." (Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, p. 452)

In Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215 (1976), the court held that there is no right to due process at an inmate's classification or reclassification (which determine eligibility for prison programs), or when an inmate is transferred from one prison to another.

In Young v. Harper, 520 U.S. 143 (1997), the Supreme Court held that the defendant's participation in due process was required to terminate Oklahoma's so-called preparole release program. The Court noted that the releasee kept his own residence; he maintained a job; and was generally free of the incidents of imprisonment.