Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard

This ease requires us to resolve two inquiries as to constitutional limitations on state clemency proceedings. The *276first is whether an inmate has a protected life or liberty interest in clemency proceedings, under either Connecticut Bd. of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U. S. 458 (1981), or Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U. S. 387 (1985). The second is whether giving inmates the option of voluntarily participating in an interview as part of the clemency process violates an inmate’s Fifth Amendment rights.

We reaffirm our holding in Dumschat, supra, that “pardon and commutation decisions have not traditionally…