FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2006

Class certified in lawsuit against Adult Parole Authority

(Columbus)—On June 16, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge John A. Connor certified as a class action the lawsuit David Hall v. Harry Hageman et al.

Hall follows in the footsteps of Ankrom v. Hageman, another lawsuit against the Adult Parole Authority, and was filed by the Office of the Ohio Public Defender and Charles Clovis, a former assistant state public defender, now in private practice, and lead counsel in Ankrom.

In Ankrom, the trial court found that inmates serving under old laws (pre-SB 2) were “being denied the essence of true parole eligibility, i.e. meaningful consideration for parole.” On appeal, the 10th District Court of Appeals found that the APA has regularly ignored statutory law and the sentences imposed by judges, thus violating the separation of powers doctrine.

The Ankrom courts ordered the APA to “immediately re-hear and grant meaningful consideration for parole” to eligible class members.

The class of plaintiffs in Hall consists of parole-eligible Ohio inmates who were convicted following a trial and are serving indefinite prison terms (under pre-SB 2 law, known as “old law inmates”). In contrast, inmates in the Ankrom class action lawsuit were sentenced following plea agreements.

As in Ankrom, inmates in Hall allege that they have been denied their statutory right to meaningful consideration for parole.

“The law is crystal clear: all inmates are entitled to a fair parole hearing. And the plaintiffs in this class action seek only that,” said Clovis. “If the parole board would simply obey the law and follow their own rules, this expensive litigation could be avoided.” Documents filed in Hall will soon be posted on the Office of the Ohio Public Defender’s website: www.opd.ohio.gov.