Missouri will have to reform its parole policies after a federal judge ruled in favor of thousands of current and former parolees who sued the state, claiming those policies are unconstitutional.
Many parolees have been sent back to prison for technical violations of their parole such as crossing a state line, missing a parole appointment or losing a job because their employer found out about their criminal record.
The state has 鈥渃reated a procedural vortex from which people on parole cannot escape and are at continual risk of being rearrested and reentered into the prison system,鈥� the lawsuit stated.
In an uncommonly succinct seven-sentence order Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough in Kansas City sided with the plaintiffs and granted them summary judgment.
Bough鈥檚 order came after in January. Missouri will now have to reform its parole policies to meet established constitutional norms.
The order is 鈥渆xtremely significant,鈥� said Megan G. Crane, an attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center in St. Louis, which filed the lawsuit in August 2017. 鈥淚t is a recognition by the federal court that the Missouri Department of Corrections and Board of Parole is in clear violation of the Constitution for the procedures and policies they use for the parole revocation process.鈥�
The suit alleges that the Missouri Department of Corrections and its Division of Probation and Parole have blatantly disregarded U.S. Supreme Court decisions establishing procedures to protect parolees鈥� due process rights.
The corrections department did not return a call seeking comment. The Missouri Attorney General鈥檚 office, which defended the suit, did not offer a response to Bough鈥檚 ruling.
Missouri pressures inmates to waive hearings, often doesn鈥檛 provide them with lawyers they鈥檙e entitled to and presents them with a blizzard of paperwork so confusing they sometimes don鈥檛 know what violations they鈥檙e accused of committing, , a nonprofit news organization that focuses on criminal justice issues.
In court filings, Missouri conceded that it has failed to provide parolees with minimal due process safeguards. Crane said that because the state conceded liability, 鈥渢he court wasn鈥檛 required to say much more, given that the violations were so blatant and so pervasive.鈥�
She said Missouri acknowledged that even when parolees are deemed to be mentally ill or incompetent, the state does not provide them with legal counsel.
The practical effect of Bough鈥檚 ruling will be to require Missouri to fashion a remedy to cure its constitutional violations. What precisely that will be remains undetermined.
鈥淭hat is a question that's yet to be answered," Crane said. 鈥淚t is on the state to fully remedy their many constitutional violations. We look forward to a remedial plan from the state that provides counsel and due process protections to which parolees are indisputably entitled very soon.鈥�
Amy Breihan, another attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center, said in an email that Missouri has been operating 鈥渁n unconstitutional parole revocation system for some time now, resulting in the unjust reincarceration of thousands of people.鈥�
鈥淣ow that we have a judgment in hand we hope to promptly move forward with implementing changes to ensure not another parolee is returned to a Missouri prison without being guaranteed their rights to due process,鈥� she said.
Breihan told KCUR in January that about 6,600 Missouri parolees went through the revocation process in 2017. At least 90 percent had their parole revoked and were sent back to prison.
鈥淎 lot of these individuals who are being sent back to prison without due process have mental health issues. They have addiction issues and those are not being addressed,鈥� Breihan said.
鈥淭hey're just being re-incarcerated and their lives and their communities are continually disrupted. It鈥檚 not a central focus of the case, but I think it's important to think about why these folks are being sent back to prison and how it is impacting their lives and their ability get back on steady ground.鈥�
, with 859 people locked up per 100,000 population.
Parole revocations are handled by the state parole board. Missouri is one of 14 states in which meetings and records are closed to the public, .
The Marshall Project said that in 2016, the Missouri corrections department鈥檚 inspector general reported that a member of the parole board and a staffer had made a game of parole board hearings. They would choose a 鈥渨ord of the day鈥� like 鈥渉ootenanny鈥� or 鈥渁rmadillo鈥� and earn points by making unsuspecting inmates repeat it.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor at KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter .
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