Jamgochian v. New Jersey State Parole Board, 196 N.J. 222

Summary

The New Jersey Supreme Court held that a person subject to lifetime community supervision has a liberty interest implicated by an eleven-hour daily curfew. The court concluded that the Parole Board was required to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard before imposing the curfew, although the offender was not entitled to the full procedural protections of a criminal trial. The court affirmed the Appellate Division's judgment that the procedures used were constitutionally inadequate.

Holdings

1. A community-supervised-for-life offender retains a liberty interest in continued freedom, and an eleven-hour daily curfew imposed for sixteen months implicates that liberty interest even though the offender is subject to lifetime supervision.
2. Before imposing a curfew on a community-supervised-for-life offender who has lived in the community for some time, the Parole Board must provide reasonable notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard.
3. A supervised offender seeking a testimonial hearing must deny the factual allegations, contest the conclusions drawn from them, or challenge the rationale for the curfew; when material factual disputes require credibility determinations, a hearing ordinarily is required.
4. An emergent curfew may be imposed before a hearing to protect public safety, but the offender must receive an opportunity to be heard, and when appropriate a hearing, within a reasonably brief period. Depending on the circumstances, due process may require access to evidence, presentation of witnesses and documentary evidence, and cross-examination subject to a recorded good-cause determination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a community-supervised-for-life offender has a protected liberty interest implicated by a substantial curfew imposed after release from prison.
2. Whether due process requires reasonable notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard before the Parole Board imposes such a curfew.
3. What minimum procedural protections are required when a curfew is imposed on an emergent basis or when the offender disputes the allegations or rationale supporting it.

Disposition

affirmed