- 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.
Dr. Mutulu Shakur’s 2006 Legal Update
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