Summary
holding no due process violation could be shown through an allegation that the Florida Parole and Probation Commission improperly calculated a prisoner's "presumptive parole release date"
Summary of this case from Walker v. Florida Parole Com'nOpinion
No. 81-5536. Non-Argument Calendar.
April 30, 1982.
Bruce Sperry, Jacksonville, Fla. (Court-appointed), for petitioner.
Malcolm S. Greenfield, Fla. Parole Probation Commission, Tallahassee, Fla., for respondent.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Before GODBOLD, Chief Judge, JOHNSON and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
The appellant, Johnny Hunter, filed a prose petition for the writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2254, in which he contended that the Florida Parole and Probation Commission violated his right to due process by improperly calculating his presumptive parole release date. Acting upon a recommendation of the magistrate, the district court dismissed the action for the reason that the Florida parole statutes create no constitutionally protected liberty interest.
The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies when government action deprives a person of liberty or property. Greenholtz v. Nebraska Penal Inmates, 442 U.S. 1, 7, 99 S.Ct. 2100, 2103, 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979). While there is no inherent or constitutional right to conditional release before the expiration of a valid sentence, a state may create a protectible liberty interest in the establishment of a parole system. Id. at 12, 99 S.Ct. at 2106. The former Fifth Circuit has held, however, that no liberty interest in parole was created by the Florida statutes. Staton v. Wainwright, 665 F.2d 686 (5th Cir. 1982). We agree.
Accordingly, we hold that the petition was properly dismissed as there was no deprivation of a federally protected right.
AFFIRMED.