Robert L. Stockmeier v. Psychological Review Panel and Warden Craig Farwell, 122 Nev. 534

Summary

The Nevada Supreme Court interpreted NRS 213.1214, which governs Psychological Review Panel certification for sex offenders seeking parole. The court held that the statute did not bar Stockmeier from challenging hearing procedures and that the panel could consider new, unproven allegations of abuse, subject to open-meeting-law requirements. It further held that certification was not required for parole from the first of consecutive sentences when the prisoner would remain incarcerated, and remanded with instructions to grant the mandamus petition.

Holdings

1. NRS 213.1214(4) prohibits only causes of action challenging the Psychological Review Panel's decision not to certify a prisoner or its refusal to place a prisoner before the panel. It does not bar challenges to the notice or procedures used during a hearing, constitutional violations occurring during the hearing, or the validity of the statute.
2. The Psychological Review Panel did not exceed its authority under NRS 213.1214 by considering new, unproven allegations of abuse that were not part of Stockmeier's conviction or presentence investigation report.
3. NRS 213.1214 requires Psychological Review Panel certification only when parole will release a sex offender from incarceration into society. It does not require certification for institutional parole from one consecutive sentence to the next when the prisoner remains incarcerated.
4. After determining that Stockmeier did not need Psychological Review Panel certification before seeking parole from his first consecutive sentence, the court's constitutional claims and petitions for prohibition and habeas corpus were moot.

Questions Presented

1. Whether NRS 213.1214(4) barred Stockmeier from bringing statutory and constitutional challenges to the procedures used during a Psychological Review Panel hearing.
2. Whether the Psychological Review Panel exceeded its statutory authority by considering newly alleged, uncharged acts of abuse.
3. Whether a sex offender serving consecutive sentences must obtain Psychological Review Panel certification before becoming eligible for parole from the first sentence when parole would result in continued incarceration on the next sentence.
4. Whether Stockmeier's constitutional claims and requests for prohibition and habeas corpus relief remained justiciable after the court determined that certification was not required for parole from the first sentence.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded