Stephen Sultenfuss, Charles McMulling v. Wayne Snow, Jr., James T. Morris, Mobley Howell, Michael H. Wing, Bettye O. Hutchings, Michael J. Bowers

I dissent from the Court’s failure to certify to the Georgia Supreme Court the unsettled questions of state law which control the disposition of this case.

The majority opinion and Judge Clark’s dissenting opinion disagree not so much about applicable federal constitutional law as about applicable state law. The disagreement is over whether the relevant Georgia statutes permit the Parole Board to reserve to itself essentially unfettered discretion, which is what it has attempted to do with the adoption of Ga.R. ch. 475-3-.05 and Anne-*1504xure 2 to the Parole Decision Guidelines System. The state…