Lynce v. Mathis, 519 U.S. 433, 12 (1997)

Page:   Index   Previous  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  Next

444

LYNCE v. MATHIS

Opinion of the Court

found that "there is no reason to conclude that the amendment will have any effect on any prisoner's actual term of confinement." Id., at 512. Our holding rested squarely on the conclusion that "a prisoner's ultimate date of release would be entirely unaffected by the change in the timing of suitability hearings." Id., at 513. Although we held that "speculative and attenuated possibilit[ies]" of increasing the measure of punishment do not implicate the Ex Post Facto Clause, id., at 509, the bulk of our analysis focused on the effect of the law on the inmate's sentence.

We did not imply in Morales, as respondents contend, that the constitutionality of retroactive changes in the quantum of punishment depended on the purpose behind the parole sentencing system. The only mention of legislative purpose in Morales was in the following passage:

"In contrast to the laws at issue in Lindsey [v. Washington, 301 U. S. 397 (1937)], Weaver, and Miller (which had the purpose and effect of enhancing the range of available prison terms, see Miller, supra, at 433-434), the evident focus of the California amendment was merely ' " 'to relieve the [Board] from the costly and time-consuming responsibility of scheduling parole hearings' " ' for prisoners who have no reasonable chance of being released. In re Jackson, 39 Cal. 3d 464, 473, 703 P. 2d 100, 106 (1985) (quoting legislative history)." Id., at 507.

Thus, we concluded, the change at issue had neither the purpose nor the effect of increasing the quantum of punishment. Whether such a purpose alone would be a sufficient basis for concluding that a law violated the Ex Post Facto Clause when it actually had no such effect is a question the Court has never addressed. Moreover, in Morales our statements regarding purpose did not refer to the purpose behind the

ment attached to the covered crimes." California Dept. of Corrections v. Morales, 514 U. S., at 509.

Page:   Index   Previous  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007