In re Stone

California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Corrections) appeals from the superior court’s order granting Paris P. Stone’s petition for writ of habeas corpus and ordering him released forthwith from the custody of Corrections, based on a finding that the Board of Parole Hearings (Board) failed to give Stone written notice of the Board’s decision to retain him on parole, thereby rendering the retention illegal and depriving the Board of jurisdiction to later revoke Stone’s parole. At the time of the superior court’s ruling, Stone had been returned to custody after the Board revoked his parole based on findings that Stone violated his parole terms by associating with prohibited persons and making criminal threats (Pen. Code, § 422) 1 to his wife—the same offense for which he was originally incarcerated.

We granted Corrections’s request for an immediate stay and now reverse the superior court’s order. As we explain, even assuming the Board violated Stone’s constitutional due process rights by failing to give timely written notice of its retention decision, the superior court’s remedy was in excess of that authorized by law, which merely required an order to…