Summary
Unanimous Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding a key provision of California's Proposition 9, which changed the state process for revoking the parole of criminals who violate parole conditions or commit new crimes. Proposition 9 adopted procedures required by the U. S. Supreme Court and utilized by other states. Since 2004, California's parole revocation process has been governed by a federal injunction to settle a lawsuit by criminals who claimed that their rights had been violated. The injunction had granted more rights to parolees than required by the Supreme Court, added costs to the process, and placed additional burdens on crime victims and law enforcement. In March 2009, the same federal judge who ordered the injunction rule that the parole reforms in Proposition 9 were unconstitutional. CJLF joined the state's appeal of that ruling to argue that the federal judge overstepped his authority and ignored precedent in order to prevent enforcement of a constitutional amendment adopted to balance the rights of criminals with those of crime victims and law-abiding Californians. [CJLF brief in PDF.]
