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Stockmeier v. Psychological Review Panel

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135 P.3d 807 (2006) Robert L. STOCKMEIER, Appellant v. PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW PANEL and Warden Craig Farwell, Respondents. No. 42063. Supreme Court of Nevada. June 1, 2006. Reconsideration En Banc Denied July 6, 2006. *808 Robert Leslie Stockmeier, Lovelock, in Proper Person. George Chanos, Attorney General, and John M. Warwick IV, Deputy Attorney General, Carson City, for Respondents. Before ROSE, C.J., DOUGLAS and PARRAGUIRRE, JJ. OPINION ROSE, C.J. In this proper person appeal and petition for rehearing, we interpret several provisions of NRS 213.1214, which provides that sex offenders must receive certification from a Psychological Review Panel (the Psych Panel) before they can be released on parole. We previously issued an opinion in this case affirming the district court's decision. Appellant Robert Stockmeier subsequently filed a petition for rehearing, and we withdrew our prior opinion. We conclude that rehearing is warranted under NRAP 40(c), grant Stockmeier's petition for rehearing, and issue this opinion in place of our prior opinion. Stockmeier is an incarcerated sex offender serving the first of two consecutive sentences. Under current practices, before Stockmeier is eligible for parole he must receive certification from the Psych Panel that he does not represent a high risk to reoffend. Stockmeier filed a district court petition for a writ of mandamus, prohibition, or habeas corpus, challenging various events at his most recent Psych Panel hearing as violating NRS 213.1214 and his constitutional rights. The district court denied and dismissed his petition, determining that NRS 213.1214(4) precluded him from filing a petition alleging statutory and constitutional violations at the meeting. We conclude that the district court abused its discretion when it denied and dismissed Stockmeier's petition under NRS 213.1214(4). NRS 213.1214(4)'s prohibition of prisoner litigation only prohibits challenges to the Psych Panel's decision to grant a hearing or its certification decision. We also conclude that the Psych Panel did not exceed its statutory authority when it considered new allegations of abuse against Stockmeier. Finally, we conclude that Stockmeier's mandamus petition should be granted because Stockmeier is not required to obtain Psych Panel certification before being eligible for parole on his first sentence. NRS 213.1214(1) provides that a sex offender must *809 receive Psych Panel certification before he can be "release[d] on parole." Stockmeier is serving the first of two consecutive sentences and will not be "release[d]" if he is paroled from his first sentence. He will simply remain incarcerated and begin serving his second sentence. Because we conclude that the district court's disposition of Stockmeier's petition for a writ of mandamus should be reversed, his constitutional claims and petitions for the writs of prohibition and habeas corpus are rendered moot, and we affirm the district court's denial of those writs. FACTS Stockmeier is a sex offender[1] currently incarcerated at the Lovelock Correctional Facility. As a sex offender, Stockmeier must receive certification from the Psych Panel before he can be released on parole. Stockmeier was the subject of a Psych Panel hearing in December 2002. During the closed session of the hearing, Stockmeier's victim …


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