Standard Letter to Client in Revocation Case

Dear Client:

I am writing to review the status of the revocation proceeding in which I was 
appointed to represent you.  After your revocation hearing, the administrative 
law judge ordered revocation of your supervision.  At your request, I submitted 
an administrative appeal to David Schwarz, Administrator of Hearings and Appeals.  
Unfortunately, that appeal was denied.  Having represented you in both the 
revocation hearing and the administrative appeal, I have completed my work for 
you in this matter.

There is a legal procedure, called a petition for writ of certiorari, that allows 
a circuit court to review a revocation proceeding.  However, because the scope of 
review is very limited, this type of petition rarely results in the court setting 
aside a revocation order.  From my work in your case, I do not see any compelling 
issues that would justify the filing of a writ of certiorari.  Also, there is no 
constitutional right to have an appointed attorney in a certiorari proceeding.  
Therefore, I will not prepare this petition on your behalf.    

For your information, I will provide you with a brief description of a certiorari 
proceeding to assist you in deciding whether to seek relief in this type of 
proceeding.  The most important thing to note is that you must show that the 
revocation decision was not merely wrong but was arbitrary and capricious.

A writ of certiorari seeks review of a final order of judgment of a lower court or 
an administrative body, see State ex rel. Hippler v. City of Baraboo, 47 Wis. 2d 
603, 178 N.W.2d (1970).  Certiorari is confined to a review of the record.  The 
standard of review is whether there is substantial evidence to support the 
decision.  The scope of review is limited, confined to review of the record.  
Certiorari review is not available when there is no error apparent in the record.

In reviewing the merits of a probation or parole revocation, the certiorari court 
defers to the hearing examiner's decision.  See Von Arx v. Schwarz, 185 Wis. 2d 645, 
517 N.W.2d 54 (Ct. App. 1994).  Further, the probationer has the burden of proving 
that the revocation decision was arbitrary and capricious.

Appellate review of probation revocation by the department is limited to four (4) 
inquires: (1) whether the Department acted within the bounds of its jurisdiction; 
(2) whether it acted according to law; (3) whether its actions were arbitrary, 
oppressive, or unreasonable and represented its will and not its judgment; and (4) 
whether the evidence was sufficient that the Department might reasonably make the 
determination that it did.

Please note that a petition for writ of certiorari must be filed within 45 days of 
your revocation order.  To comply with filing requirements, there are also several 
technical details that must be handled correctly, including either the payment of 
a filing fee or submission of documents requesting filing without payment of fees.  
See generally secs. 801.02(7)(a) & 814.29(1m), Stats.  Therefore, if you decide to 
file a petition, you should ensure that your petition is filed within this time 
limit and in proper form.

If I can be of further assistance, please contact me.  But please remember any 
further challenges to your revocation must follow the procedures outlined above.

Sincerely,

Attorney