U.S. District Court: PAROLE.

Closs v. Weber, 87 F.Supp.2d 921 (D.S.D. 1999). A prisoner challenged the revocation of his parole with a habeas corpus petition. The district court granted the petition, finding that the prisoner's due process rights were violated when his parole was revoked for exercising his right to refuse psychotropic medication that had been ordered administered by the parole agent. The court found the state's procedure for forced administration of psychotropic medication to parolees was constitutionally inadequate because of its heavy emphasis on the judgment of individual parole agents. The court noted that the state's procedure provided no safeguard against the imposition of a medication plan that was not justified medically and that the plan did not provide for an evaluation by a neutral decision maker. (South Dakota State Penitentiary)