Adams v. State of Nebraska Board of Parole et al.

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court considered whether Nebraska Revised Statute § 83-1,110(1), as applied to an offender serving a life sentence, violated the Nebraska Constitution by infringing on the Board of Parole’s authority to grant paroles. The court held that the statute permissibly establishes legislative conditions for parole eligibility under Neb. Const. art. IV, § 13, and affirmed dismissal of the inmate’s declaratory judgment action.

Holdings

1. The conditions clause of Neb. Const. art. IV, § 13, permits the Legislature to enact laws placing conditions on when a committed offender is eligible for parole.
2. Section 83-1,110(1) does not infringe the Board's authority to grant paroles because it permissibly makes an offender serving a life sentence ineligible for parole consideration until the sentence is commuted.
3. Adams failed to meet his burden of clearly establishing that § 83-1,110(1) is unconstitutional.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Neb. Rev. Stat. § 83-1,110(1), which makes an offender serving a life sentence ineligible for parole consideration until the sentence is commuted to a term of years, violates Neb. Const. art. IV, § 13.
2. Whether the conditions clause of Neb. Const. art. IV, § 13, permits the Legislature to establish conditions governing when a committed offender becomes eligible for parole.

Disposition

affirmed