Wilson v. Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Wilson v. Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles, 199 F. App'x 897 (11th Cir. 2006)

Wilson v. Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Joseph Joey Wilson, Jr., a Georgia prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the district court’s ruling dismissing his lawsuit, which alleged violations of the Due Process and Ex Post Facto Clauses related to post-offense changes in Georgia’s parole proce *898 dures, for failure to state a claim upon which relief might be granted. On appeal, Wilson argues that the Board violated and continues to violate his due process and ex post facto rights by holding parole hearings for him only every eight years, even though, at the time his crimes of conviction were committed, the law required that such hearings be held every year once the prisoner had served seven years’ incarceration. Wilson relies heavily on Akins v. Snow, 922 F.2d 1558 (11th Cir. 1991).

Subsequently, however, the U.S. Supreme Court issued decisions holding that new parole procedures that decrease the frequency of parole reconsideration hearings did not necessarily violate prisoners’ ex post facto rights. See California Dep’t of Corr. v. Morales, 514 U.S. 499, 501-02, 115 S.Ct. 1597, 1599, 131 L.Ed.2d 588 (1995); see also Garner v. Jones, 529 U.S. 244, 256-57, 120 S.Ct. 1362, 1370-71, 146 L.Ed.2d 236 (2000) (addressing the Georgia rule at issue in the instant case). We have acknowledged that the Supreme Court has overruled Akins. Swan v. Ray, 293 F.3d 1252, 1253 (11th Cir. 2002).

Wilson has argued only that the rule change facially constitutes an ex post facto violation, an argument that is contrary to the applicable law. Accordingly, the district court did not err in dismissing his lawsuit.

AFFIRMED.

Reference

Full Case Name
Joseph Joey WILSON, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GEORGIA STATE BOARD OF PARDONS AND PAROLES, Board Members, W.C. Davis, Defendants-Appellees
Status
Unpublished