Dr. Mutulu Shakur's 2006 Legal
Update
- According to federal law a federal prisoner is eligible
for release on parole after serving ten (10) years of a
sentence over thirty (30) years. Mutulu was eligible for a
parole hearing in 1996 but his efforts to schedule one were
blocked.
- A hearing was finally held in 2002 (6 years late).
Parole was denied and Mutulu was informed that he would not
be able to appear again before the parole board for 15
years.
- In 2004 a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed
with the US District Court of Northern Georgia requesting
correction of the error, i.e. 6 year delay in scheduling
first hearing, 15 year hit on top of that.
- At statutory interim parole hearing February 8, 2005 the
parole hearing examiner agreed that an error had been made
and recommended to US Parole Commission that it correct the
error.
- March 1, 2005 the US Parole Commission rejected
recommendation of its own examiner and refused to recognize
1996 as the year Mutulu was eligible for parole
consideration.
- Mutulu’s appeal of this decision to the US Court of
Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was denied on November 17,
2005 based on the court’s belief that the “danger to
society” posed by Shakur permits wide discretion by the
Parole Commission in these matters.
- An appeal of this last decision was filed with the US
Supreme Court; however, on June 14, 2006 the court decided
not to hear the case.
