Cecil Roy Tedder v. United States Board of Parole and H. Rauch, Warden, U.S. Penitentiary

This case concerns the validity of procedures followed by the United States Board of Parole in considering the release of prisoners serving indeterminate sentences under 18 U.S.C. § 4208 (a)(2). The parole board has recently amended its regulations pertaining to hearings for such prisoners. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment as moot and remand to the district court so that it may have the opportunity to dismiss this action. See Hall v. Beals, 396 U.S. 45 , 90 S.Ct. 200 , 24 L.Ed.2d 214 (1969).

A brief examination of past and present parole board procedures will show why the facts of this case no longer present a controversy. Cecil Roy Tedder was sentenced to a six-year term under section 4208(a)(2) for bank robbery with use of a dangerous weapon. He began serving his sentence in August 1973. His initial hearing before a panel of parole board hearing examiners was held in May 1974. The board denied parole and scheduled its next review hearing for March 1976. When Tedder’s application for an earlier in-person review hearing was denied, he petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus. The court dismissed his petition on the ground that he failed to show an…