Crowell v. Massachusetts Parole Board (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-078-17)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12203 RICHARD CROWELL vs. MASSACHUSETTS PAROLE BOARD. Suffolk. January 6, 2017. – May 15, 2017. Present: Gants, C.J., Lenk, Hines, Gaziano, Lowy, & Budd, JJ. Parole. Practice, Criminal, Parole. Americans with Disabilities Act. Practice, Civil, Action in nature of certiorari, Motion to dismiss. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on April 2, 2014. A motion to dismiss was heard by Raffi N. Yessayan, J., and a motion for reconsideration was considered by him. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court. Tabitha Cohen (John D. Fitzpatrick also present) for the plaintiff. Todd M. Blume, Assistant Attorney General, for the defendant. James R. Pingeon, for American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts & others, amici curiae, submitted a brief. BUDD, J. On April 2, 2014, the plaintiff, Richard Crowell, filed a complaint in the nature of certiorari in the Superior Court, alleging that, in denying his petition for parole, the Parole Board (board) had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. (ADA), and cognate State provisions, art. 114 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution and G. L. c. 93, § 103. A judge of that court allowed the board’s motion to dismiss and denied the plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration. We reverse and remand for further development of the record.[1] Further, we conclude that, contrary to the plaintiff’s assertion, his commuted life sentence remains a “life sentence” within the meaning of 120 Code Mass. Regs. § 301.01(5) (1997). Background. The limited record before us, presented in the form of exhibits to the plaintiff’s complaint, includes the following facts, which are undisputed by the parties. Prior parole proceedings. The plaintiff pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree in 1962 in connection with an armed robbery that resulted in a homicide.[2] He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole pursuant to G. L. c. 265, § 2.[3] In 1974 the plaintiff’s life sentence was commuted to one that was from “[thirty-six] years to life.” He was paroled in November, 1975. Between 1975 and 1990 the plaintiff was returned to custody on five occasions (1977, 1980, 1982, 1989, and 1990) for failing to adhere to his conditions of parole, including repeated problems with alcohol […]