Francis v. Board of Pardons & Paroles

Summary

The court affirmed dismissal of the plaintiff’s declaratory judgment action because he lacked standing to litigate whether the parole statute applied to prisoners convicted of murder. It construed “definite sentence” to mean the full sentence imposed by the sentencing court, rather than that sentence reduced by statutory credits; the plaintiff therefore would not serve 95 percent of his sentence before his projected release. Because the statutory condition would never occur with virtual certainty, the plaintiff’s interest was theoretical and did not present a justiciable controversy.