146
Opinion of the Court
indicating that he "underst[ood] that being classified to community level depend[ed] upon [his] compliance with each of these expectations," id., at 6. He spent five apparently uneventful months outside the penitentiary. Nonetheless, the Governor of Oklahoma denied respondent parole. On March 14, 1991, respondent was telephoned by his parole officer, informed of the Governor's decision, and told to report back to prison, which he did later that day.
Respondent filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in state court complaining that his summary return to prison had deprived him of liberty without due process. The state trial court denied relief and the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. 852 P. 2d 164 (1993). The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that respondent's removal from the Program impinged only upon an interest in his "degree of confinement," an interest to which the procedural protections set out in Morrissey did not attach. 852 P. 2d, at 165. The court found "[d]ispositive of the issue" the fact that respondent "was not granted parole by the Governor of Oklahoma." Ibid. The court noted that the Board had adopted a procedure under which preparolees subsequently denied parole remained on the Program, and had their cases reviewed within 90 days of the denial for a determination whether they should continue on preparole. According to the court, "such a procedure gives an inmate sufficient notice when he is placed in the program that he may be removed from it when the governor exercises his discretion and declines to grant parole." Ibid.
Respondent fared no better in District Court on his petition for relief under 28 U. S. C. § 2254. But the Tenth Circuit reversed. 64 F. 3d 563 (1995). It determined that pre-parole "more closely resembles parole or probation than even the more permissive forms of institutional confinement" and that "[d]ue process therefore mandates that program participants receive at least the procedural protections described in Morrissey." Id., at 566-567. Petitioners sought certio-
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