Tennessee’s early release law facing resistance from state parole board
A recent revision of Tennessee’s parole regulations changes the fundamental approach to early release for defendants hoping to get out of jail after serving their time.
But a new lawsuit argues the Board of Parole isn’t living up to its updated mandate.
The suit, filed recently in Davidson County Chancery Court, follows the story of Jeffrey Wayne Hughes.
Hughes, 37, was sentenced to a combined 27 years in prison related to theft and money laundering charges from Lawrence County in 2009 and 2010, Tennessee Department of Correction reports show.
Historically, the board — and state law — held “parole is a privilege, not a right” as a watchword. That changed under the new law.
Under the Re-Entry Success Act of 2021, which took effect Thursday, eligible defendants have a presumption of parole release unless “good cause” is shown for why they must remain incarcerated.
Hughes’ attorney Daniel Horwitz argues the law requires the board to review cases as soon as a defendant becomes eligible, or at a hearing scheduled meaningfully soon after that date.
But Hughes, who could become eligible as soon as September based on his sentence and credits earned while incarcerated, isn’t scheduled for a parole hearing until July 2022.
The decision to delay a review of Hughes’ case is
“arbitrary, capricious and illegal,” according to the suit.
Hughes had previously been scheduled for a new hearing in the summer of 2022, two years after the last time he went before the board, according to the lawsuit. At his July 2020 parole hearing, he was recommended to be released with conditions, although the board denied his petition at the time.
The board intends to hear Hughes’ petition at that 2022 hearing, according to the lawsuit, even though the date was set before the provisions of the new bill kicked in.
“Unless the board meets its burden of proving good cause to deny Mr. Hughes’ release on parole, every day that Mr. Hughes is incarcerated beyond his forthcoming release eligibility date will be a day that he is incarcerated illegally,” Horwitz argues in the lawsuit.
Horwitz, a Nashville lawyer, has been outspoken about what he sees as a disconnect between Lee’s campaign promises on criminal justice reform and the practical rollout of related legislation.
Hughes’ petition in chancery court asks a judge to order the board to hold a parole hearing before the date he becomes eligible and to release him unless the board holds that hearing and provides a reason he should not be.
Davidson County Chancellor Anne C. Martin is set to hear the case.
Tennessee’s General Assembly this session also reconfigured how constitutional challenges to state law are heard in chancery court, in a move to shift some decision-making out of Nashville. This suit, while dealing with new state law, seems unlikely to trigger the new 3-judge panel system.
The second of Lee’s two-bill criminal justice reform package, the new parole board law also removes the fee to set up a payment plan to have a driver’s license reinstated and increases reimbursement rates for local jails choosing to expand classes and resources offered to inmates.
It also allows the Board of Parole to hear testimony from inmates seeking release both in person and by video.
The Board of Parole is typically represented by the Attorney General’s Office in lawsuits, although a representative on Thursday afternoon could not confirm they had been formally served in this case.
A representative for the governor’s office declined to comment on the pending lawsuit.