Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343 (5th Cir. 1999). · Go Syfert
Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343 (5th Cir. 1999). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
35 citation events (33 in the last 25 years) across 8 distinct courts.
Treatment trajectory · 1999 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1999 2012 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 17 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (quoted) Young v. Gutierrez
5th Cir. · 2018 · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence low
extra flexibility is required when, as here, the criminal process has reached an end and a highly individualized and merciful decision like executive clemency is at issue.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Robertson v. Louisiana Board of Pardons (2×)
M.D. La. · 2023 · confidence medium
Complex, 442 U.S. 1, 7 , 99 S.Ct. 2100 , 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979); Ohio Adult Parole Auth. v. Woodard, 523 U.S. 272 , 280–82, 118 S.Ct. 1244 , 140 L.Ed.2d 387 (1998) (applying Dumschat’s reasoning to a death row inmate’s petition for clemency))). 46 Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1017 , 119 S.Ct. 2362 , 144 L.Ed.2d 767 (1999) (stating clemency process requires minimal procedural safeguards). 47 Id. at 344–45 (citing Woodard, 523 U.S. at 289 , 118 S.Ct. 1244 (O’Connor, J., concurring)); see also Tamayo v. Perry, 553 F. App'x…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Kelly Renee Gissendaner v. Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections (2×)
11th Cir. · 2015 · confidence medium
Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir. 1999).
cited Cited as authority (rule) Kelly Renee Gissendaner v. Commissioner, Georgia Department of Corrections
11th Cir. · 2015 · confidence medium
Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir. 1999).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Winfield v. Steele
8th Cir. · 2014 · confidence medium
Young is an outlier when compared to the narrower approaches adopted by our sister circuits, which have taken to heart Justice O’Con-nor’s emphasis on the word “minimal.” See Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344-45 (5th Cir.1999) (focusing on whether the “extreme situations” identified by Justice O’Connor were present); Anderson v. Davis, 279 F.3d 674, 676-77 (9th Cir.2002) (identifying ways in which a state might violate procedural due process in its operation of clemency procedures); Duvall v. Keating, 162 F.3d 1058, 1061 (10th Cir.1998); see generally Da…
cited Cited as authority (rule) Roach v. Quarterman
5th Cir. · 2007 · confidence medium
Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344-45 (5th Cir.1999) (stating that due process challenges to Texas’s procedure were "meritless”). 2 .
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Sepulvado v. Louisiana Board of Pardons & Parole
5th Cir. · 2006 · confidence medium
Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1017 , 119 S.Ct. 2362 , 144 L.Ed.2d 767 (1999) (stating clemency process requires minimal procedural safeguards).
cited Cited as authority (rule) Lagrone v. Dretke
5th Cir. · 2003 · confidence medium
Faulder v. Texas Board of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344-45 (5th Cir. 1999); Moody v. Rodriguez, 164 F.3d 893, 894 (5th Cir. 1999).
cited Cited "see" Calton v. Gutierrez
W.D. Tex. · 2021 · signal: see · confidence high
See Faulder v. Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir. 1999) (citing Woodard, 523 U.S. at 289 (O’Connor, J., concurring)).
cited Cited "see" Jones v. GUTIERREZ
S.D. Tex. · 2021 · signal: see · confidence high
See Faulder v. Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344-45 (5th Cir. 1999).
discussed Cited "see" Rhonda Fleming v. Jody Upton (2×)
5th Cir. · 2018 · signal: see · confidence high
See Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir. 1999).
cited Cited "see" Joseph Garcia v. Carmella Jones
5th Cir. · 2018 · signal: see · confidence high
See Faulder , 178 F.3d at 344 (citing Woodard , 523 U.S. at 289 , 118 S.Ct. 1244 (O'Connor, J., concurring) ).
discussed Cited "see" Ledell Lee v. Asa Hutchinson (2×)
8th Cir. · 2017 · signal: see · confidence high
See Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 345 (5th Cir. 1999) (examining petitioner’s objections to parole board’s procedures “either individually or cumulatively under the facts of this case”).
cited Cited "see" In Re: Philip R. Workman, Movant. Philip R. Workman v. Ricky Bell, Warden
6th Cir. · 2001 · signal: see · confidence high
See Faulder v. Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344 (5th Cir.1999).
discussed Cited "see" Freeman v. City of Dallas (2×)
5th Cir. · 1999 · signal: accord · confidence high
This approach reflects the fact that "due process is flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands." 3 Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 481 (1972); accord Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 345 (5th Cir.) (per curiam) ("Procedural due process is an inherently flexible concept."), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 119 S.Ct. 2362 , ___ L.Ed.2d ___ (1999). 23 The Plaintiffs contend that they were denied a meaningful opportunity to be heard on the future of the apartment buildings because they were not told that the Department of Housing a…
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Edwin Turner v. Christopher Epps, Commissioner, Et (2×)
5th Cir. · 2012 · signal: see also · confidence medium
He “d[oes] not provide evidence that he would be denied access to the [clemency] process or evidence that the decision will be made arbitrarily.” Roach v. Quarterman, 220 Fed.Appx. 270, 275 (5th Cir.2007); see also Faulder v. Tex. Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 344-45 (5th Cir.1999).
cited Cited "see, e.g." Jennings v. Owens
W.D. Tex. · 2008 · signal: see also · confidence medium
See also Faulder v. Texas Bd. of Pardons & Paroles, 178 F.3d 343, 345 (5th Cir.1999) (per curiam) ("Procedural due process is an inherently flexible concept.”) 65 .
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
Joseph Stanley FAULDER, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
TEXAS BOARD OF PARDONS & PAROLES, Et Al., Defendants-Appellees
99-50130.
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Jun 10, 1999.
178 F.3d 343
Sandra Lynn Babcock, Minneapolis, MN, for Plaintiff-Appellant., Douglas A. Danzeiser, Austin, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.
Jones, Wiener, Barksdale.
Cited by 24 opinions  |  Published
1 passage pin-cited by 1 case
Pinpoint authority: bottom 69%
Citer courts: Fifth Circuit (1)
PER CURIAM:

Appellant Stanley Faulder, now sentenced to be executed on June 17, 1999, appeals from the district court’s rejection of his due process challenge to the procedures used by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. We find no error and affirm.

Faulder has been tried and sentenced to death twice for murdering Inez Phillips in the course of committing aggravated robbery. He has received dispositions on three state habeas petitions and one federal habeas petition. He has participated in state court civil litigation regarding the clemency policies of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (the Board).

The instant case was filed against the Board on December 8,1998, shortly before a previously scheduled execution date, in order to contest the state’s clemency procedures under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district court temporarily stayed Faulder’s execution, but this court granted the Board’s motion to vacate the stay, and this court then denied Faulder’s motion for en banc reconsideration. The Supreme Court, however, stayed Faulder’s execution pending a writ of certiorari from one of his state habeas petitions. The Court denied cert. on January 25, 1999. Faulder v. Texas, — U.S.-, 119 S.Ct. 909, 142 L.Ed.2d 907. A week earlier, the federal district court denied section 1983 relief after a hearing.

On appeal, Faulder argues that the Board’s procedures do not meet “minimal due process” standards principally because the Board allegedly violated applicable state law and its own regulations, and Faulder received inadequate notice of issues the Board would consider. [1] In addition, Faulder alleges conclusionally in his brief that the Board acts in secrecy, refuses to hold hearings, gives no reasons for its decisions, and keeps no records of its actions. He describes the Board’s action as “an arbitrary exercise of administrative power.”

These contentions are meritless. In Ohio Adult Parole Authority v. Woodard, 523 U.S. 272, ——, 118 S.Ct. 1244, 1253, 140 L.Ed.2d 387 (1998), Justice O’Connor’s concurring opinion stated only that minimal procedural safeguards apply to clemency proceedings. Id. at-, 118 S.Ct. at 1254. The low threshold of judicial re-viewability is based on the facts that pardon and commutation decisions are not traditionally the business of courts and that they are subject to the ultimate discretion of the executive power. Id. This is highlighted by Justice O’Connor’s narrow view of when judicial intervention into clemency decisions might be warranted: where a state official “flipped a coin” to determine whether to grant clemency, or the state arbitrarily denied a prisoner any access to its clemency process. Id.

Faulder’s clemency procedures exhibited neither of these extreme situations. The federal district court conscientiously explained the Board’s procedures and the[*345] liberal, non-evidentiary rules permitting Faulder to submit any information he thought appropriate to the Board’s decision. Board members testified at length about their decision-making processes. The Board members reviewed the information they believed material to Faulder’s request, and each one independently determined whether clemency ought to be recommended. The Board staff furnished members with Faulder’s or his family’s submissions and with such other information as was relevant or useful. We need not go further in advising the Board what procedures it might choose to adopt in the future, because what they did in this case complied with the constitutional minimum set forth in Woodard.

Further, this court has previously rejected arguments against the constitutionality of Texas’s clemency procedures for essentially the same reasons stated by the district court in this case. Moody v. Rodriguez, 164 F.3d at 894. The state notes that Moody is based on a slightly different voting form prepared for the Board in capital cases after Faulder’s petition was decided. The information now contained on the form adds nothing relevant to the information developed by the district court about the Board’s actions in this case.

Taken either individually or cumulatively under the facts of this case, none of the objections that Faulder raises to the Board’s procedures represents an essential component of due process. Procedural due process is an inherently flexible concept. And Woodard emphasizes that extra flexibility is required when, as here, the criminal process has reached an end and a highly individualized and merciful decision like executive clemency is at issue. Faulder had ample opportunity to present his best case to the Board, and the Board gave it appropriate consideration.

For these reasons, the judgement of the district court is AFFIRMED.

Faulder’s motion to stay execution is DENIED. Moody v. Rodriguez, supra note 1.

1

. This court has jurisdiction over the district court's final judgment adjudicating the section 1983 claim. 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Unlike the request for a stay of execution, the district court’s judgment did not purport to interfere with the state’s carrying out of the death penalty, an action that this court earlier considered an infringement on habeas corpus jurisdiction. See Moody v. Rodriguez, 164 F.3d 893, (5th Cir.1999); Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973); Buchanan v. Gilmore, 139 F.3d 982, 984 (4th Cir. 1998).