Marcell Lewis v. Pennsylvania Parole Board

Summary

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the Pennsylvania Parole Board’s decision recommitting Marcell Lewis as a convicted parole violator. The court held that Lewis’s parole revocation hearing was timely because he had not waived his right to a panel hearing and was not returned to the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections until June 28, 2023. The hearing was held 42 days later, within the 120-day period under the Board’s regulations.

Holdings

1. A parole revocation hearing for a parolee confined in a county correctional institution who has not waived the right to a panel hearing is timely under 37 Pa. Code § 71.4(1)(i) when held within 120 days after the parolee's official return to a state correctional facility.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Pennsylvania Parole Board timely held Lewis's parole revocation hearing when Lewis had remained confined outside the Department of Corrections' jurisdiction and had not waived his right to a panel hearing.

Disposition

affirmed