[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 144 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38569-38570]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-18861]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Parole Commission
28 CFR Part 2
Paroling, Recommitting, and Supervising Federal Prisoners:
Transfer Treaty Cases
AGENCY: United States Parole Commission, Justice.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Parole Commission is amending its regulations on
transfer treaty cases by reducing the number of hearing examiners
required to conduct a hearing for a prisoner transferred to the United
States pursuant to treaty. The number is reduced from two hearing
examiners to one hearing examiner. The recommended decision of the
hearing examiner shall be reviewed by the executive hearing examiner,
and the Commission will not act upon the case until a panel
recommendation consisting of two concurring examiner votes is obtained.
This change will not otherwise affect the procedures followed at a
special transferee hearing. This procedural rule is necessary for the
Commission to operate within the substantially reduced Congressional
appropriation anticipated for Fiscal Year 1997.
EFFECTIVE DATE: August 26, 1996.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela A. Posch, Office of General
Counsel, 5550 Friendship Blvd, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815, Telephone
(301) 492-5959.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a procedural rule change affecting
only those prisoners who are transferred to the United States, pursuant
to treaty, to serve a sentence imposed in the transferring country. For
a prisoner who is serving a foreign sentence for a crime that was
committed on or after November 1, 1987, the Parole Commission is
obliged to conduct a special transferee hearing upon his return to the
United States, and to determine a period of imprisonment and a period
of supervised release, within the framework of the foreign sentence,
according to the rules and guidelines of the U.S. Sentencing
Commission. See 18 U.S.C. 4106A (1988).
Until now, the regulation governing such cases, 28 CFR 2.62, has
required that special transferee hearings be conducted by panels of two
hearing examiners. In all other hearings conducted by the Commission
(including parole and parole revocation hearings for domestic
prisoners) hearings are conducted by a single
[[Page 38570]]
examiner. The recommended decision of the hearing examiner is reviewed
by the executive hearing examiner, and the Commission is presented with
a panel recommendation pursuant to 28 CFR 2.23. The same procedure is
now extended to special transferee hearings.
The Commission originally decided to require panel-conducted
hearings for transfer treaty prisoners because of the complexity of
sentencing guideline issues and the absence of any statutorily-
authorized administrative remedy procedure. The determination of the
Commission becomes subject to direct appeal to a United States Court of
Appeals pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 4106A(b)(2)(A). However, the Commission
has improved its pre-hearing assessment procedure, and has added a
review by its Office of General Counsel before each case is submitted
to the Commission for decision. These additional safeguards have
reduced the possibility of error which diminishes the need for two
hearing examiners to conduct each hearing. Moreover, the Commission
anticipates a severely reduced Congressional appropriation for Fiscal
Year 1997, and it can no longer afford to send panels of hearing
examiners to conduct each special transferee hearing. With the
additional safeguards described above, the Commission believes that the
hearing and decision making process for transfer treaty prisoners will
continue to be as error-free as possible.
Implementation
This procedural rule change will apply to all special transferee
hearings conducted on or after the effective date shown above.
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Statement:
The U.S. Parole Commission has determined that this rule is not a
significant regulatory action for the purposes of Executive Order
12866, and the rule has, accordingly, not been reviewed by the Office
of Management and Budget. The rule will not have a significant economic
impact upon a substantial number of small entities within the meaning
of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
List of Subjects in 28 CFR Part 2
Administrative practice and procedure, Probation and parole,
Prisoners.
The Final Rule
Accordingly, the U.S. Parole Commission makes the following changes
to 28 CFR part 2:
(1) The authority citation for 28 CFR part 2 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 18 U.S.C. 4203(a)(1) and 4204(a)(6).
Sec. 2.62 [Amended]
(2) Section 2.62 is amended by substituting ``a hearing examiner''
for ``a panel of examiners'' in paragraph (h), introductory text; by
substituting ``The examiner'' for ``The examiner panel'' in paragraph
(h)(1) introductory text; by substituting ``The examiner'' for ``The
examiner panel'' in paragraph (h)(5).
(3) Section Sec. 2.62(h)(6) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 2.62 Prisoners transferred pursuant to treaty.
* * * * *
(h) Hearing procedures. * * *
(6) The transferee shall be notified of the examiner's recommending
findings of fact, and the examiner's recommended determination and
reasons therefore, at the conclusion at the hearing. The case shall
thereafter be reviewed by the Executive Hearing Examiner pursuant to
Sec. 2.23, and the Commission shall make its determination upon a panel
recommendation.
* * * * *
Dated: July 12, 1996.
Edward F. Reilly, Jr.,
Chairman, U.S. Parole Commission.
[FR Doc. 96-18861 Filed 7-24-96; 8:45 am]
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