Nevada Supreme Court limits Psych Panel parole requirements
In Douglas v. State, an inmate acting pro se succeeded in persuading the Court that the Parole Board violated a statutory duty by requiring him to obtain Psych Panel certification, pursuant to NRS 213.1214, on an offense not enumerated in that statute.
NRS 213.1214 provides that A prisoner seeking parole on certain offenses, primarily sex offenses, must obtain certification that “that the prisoner was under observation while confined in an institution of the Department of Corrections and does not represent a high risk to reoffend based upon a currently accepted standard of assessment.”
Douglas had once obtained the necessary certification when paroled for his past sex offense, and was recertified following his return to prison after his parole was revoked due to a burglary charge. But when up for parole on that burglary charge he was required to obtain recertification again, and was this time denied.
Writing for the majority, Justice Cherry reasoned rejected the argument that any previous conviction on a sexual offense could justify the requirement of Psych Panel certification, even where the offense for which parole is being considered is not a sexual offense. The legislature had apparently wrestled with and decided against expanding the offenses for which such certification was required because of the attendant expense. Thus, reasoned the court, it was unlikely that the legislature would require infinite re-certifications for previous sex offense.
The Court clarified that its previous ruling in Stockmeier v. Psychological Review Panel,122 Nev. 534, 135 P.3d 807 (2006), which allowed a recertification process where a prisoner had been convicted of multiple sexual offenses, applied where the current parole consideration involved a sex offense.
Justice Maupin dissented.
