Hamm v. Commissioner of Correction

In 1969, the plaintiff received two concurrent indeterminate life sentences and four consecutive “from and after” determinate sentences, all to be served in State prison.2 By a petition for habeas corpus3, he chal*1012lenged the parole board’s policy of refusing to hold a parole hearing until after he has served the combined total of the minimum sentences for the life sentences and each of the determinate “from and after” sentences, a total of more than thirty-one years. A judge of the Superior Court dismissed the petition, ruling that the plaintiff was not eligible for parole until the year 2000.…