Harold Joe Black VS Louisiana Parole Board Members Scott, James, Lowe and ARP Screening Officer Cathy Ponch
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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL FIRST CIRCUIT 2009 CA 2163 HAROLD JOE BLACK VERSUS LOUISIANA PAROLE BOARD MEMBERS SCOTT JAMES AND LOWE AND ARP SCREENING OFFICER CATHY PONCH DATE OF JUDGMENT MA ON APPEAL FROM THE NINETEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT NUMBER 543 SECTION 8 PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE 956 STATE OF LOUISIANA HONORABLE WILSON FIELDS JUDGE i Harold Joe Black Homer Louisiana Plaintiff Appellant In Proper Person Patricia H Wilton Counsel for Defendant Appellee Assistant Attorney General Baton Rouge Louisiana Louisiana Parole Board BEFORE PARRO KUHN AND McDONALD JJ Disposition AFFIRMED KUHN J Plaintiff appellant Harold Joe Black an inmate in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections DPSC appeals the district court judgment that dismissed his petition for judicial review wherein he s sought damages arising from DPSC rejection of his administrative remedy s procedures ARP request numbered ALC 2005 869 In that request Black requested that his parole be reinstated because the Parole Board was unable to produce tapes of his April 13 2004 revocation hearing The DPSC rejected s Black ARP request on the grounds that Parole Board decisions are not appealable through the ARP process See LAC 22 After considering Black 2 L325C s allegations the district court commissioner recommended the affirmance of s s DPSC decision to reject Black ARP request and the dismissal of this matter with s prejudice at Black cost The commissioner s srecommendation stated in pertinent part n I a prior matter the Nineteenth Judicial District Court determined that although Black parole proceedings were not s preserved for review the petitioner was entitled to no relief as the proceedings involved a denial of a request for release on parole rather than a revocation decision La R 15 provides the S 574 11 petitioner has no right to appeal a denial of a request for release on parole Louisiana Revised Statutes 15 provides 11A 574 Parole is an administrative device for the rehabilitation of prisoners under supervised freedom from actual restraint and the granting conditions or revocation of parole rest in the discretion of the Board of Parole No prisoner or parolee shall have a right of appeal from a decision of the board regarding release or deferment of release on parole the imposition or modification of authorized conditions of parole the termination or restoration of parole supervision or discharge from parole before the end of the parole period or the revocation or reconsideration of revocation of parole except for the denial of a revocation hearing under R 15 S 574 9 2 In this matter Black challenges a rejection of an ARP request This Commissioner finds Black complaint against the Parole Board s seeking monetary relief was properly rejected pursuant to LAC 2 325C 1 22 Decisions and actions of the Parole Board cannot be The petitioner should file any challenged in an ARP request complaint seeking monetary damages against the Parole Board pursuant to the original jurisdiction of a district court in the parish where he was housed when the cause of action arose See La R S 1184F 15 Footnotes added By judgment dated July 24 2008 the district court affirmed the decision to reject s Black ARP request and dismissed Black petition with prejudice at his cost s On appeal Black claims that DPSC violated his civil rights when it rejected his ARP request Based on our review of the record we find no support for this claim and we affirm the district court judgment in accordance with Uniform s Rules Courts of Appeal Rule 2 16 4 5 and 6 2 2A Appeal costs are assessed against Harold Joe Black AFFIRMED Louisiana Revised Statutes 15 provides in pertinent part The exclusive venue for 1184F delictual actions for injury or damages shall be the parish where the prison is situated to which the prisoner was assigned when the cause of action arose The record demonstrates Black was never assigned to a prison situated in East Baton Rouge Parish 3
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