COURT OF APPEALS DECISION DATED AND RELEASED JULY 25, 1995 |
NOTICE |
A party may file with the
Supreme Court a petition to review an adverse decision by the Court of
Appeals. See § 808.10 and
Rule 809.62, Stats. |
This opinion is subject to
further editing. If published, the
official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. |
No. 95-0460
STATE
OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF
APPEALS
DISTRICT III
CLIFFORD A. ROBBINS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
JOHN HUSZ, Chairman,
WISCONSIN PAROLE
COMMISSION,
Defendant-Respondent,
APPEAL from an order of
the circuit court for Outagamie County:
JAMES T. BAYORGEON, Judge. Affirmed.
Before Cane, P.J.,
LaRocque and Myse, JJ.
PER CURIAM. Clifford Robbins appeals a trial court
order that dismissed his lawsuit for mootness.
Robbins' lawsuit sought: (1)
certiorari review of a November 1993 parole commission decision; and (2)
damages from the commission under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for allegedly denying him
due process. His lawsuit claimed that
the commission wrongfully withheld discretionary parole under
§ 304.06(1r), Stats., after
failing to consider the fact that he had obtained his GED while in prison. The trial court concluded that Robbins'
lawsuit was moot, having learned that one year later in November 1994, the
commission had expressly considered Robbins' GED and found it insufficient to
justify his parole under § 304.06(1r).
We agree with the trial
court's analysis. The commission's
express examination of Robbins' status as GED earner and finding it
insufficient to warrant release in November 1994, rendered Robbins' complaints
about the commission's November 1993 decision moot. His complaints about the November 1993 decision, if reviewed by
the trial court, would have had no practical effect on an existing
controversy. Milwaukee Police
Assoc. v. City of Milwaukee, 92 Wis.2d 175, 183, 285 N.W.2d 133, 137
(1979). Had the trial court ruled in
Robbins' favor regarding the commission's November 1993 decision, the trial
court could have done nothing more than direct the commission to do what the
commission had already done in its November 1994 decision — re-evaluate
Robbins' eligibility for parole in light of his GED. Under these circumstances, Robbins' lawsuit no longer presented
an existing controversy, and the trial court correctly ordered its
dismissal.
By the Court.—Order
affirmed.
This opinion will not be
published. See Rule 809.23(1)(b)5, Stats.