Source: https://casetext.com/case/illsley-v-united-states-parole-probation-dept
Timestamp: 2019-03-22 02:30:58
Document Index: 440356617

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', '§ 4201', '§ 4214', '§ 4213', '§ 4214', '§ 4215', '§ 2']

Illsley v. United States Parole Probation Dept, 636 F.2d 1 | Casetext
Illsley v. United States Parole Probation Dept
636 F.2d 1 (1st Cir. 1980)
Illsleyv.United States Parole Probation Dept
United States Court of Appeals, First CircuitNov 6, 1980
Submitted September 12, 1980.
Decided November 6, 1980.
Edward F. Harrington, U.S. Atty., Boston, Mass., and Charles K. Mone, Asst. U.S. Atty., Boston, Mass., on brief, for defendants, appellees.
Subsequently, appellant filed motions for an injunction and a temporary restraining order to compel the Parole Commission to hold a probable cause hearing. He also moved for summary judgment dismissing the parole warrant and detainer. On April 17, 1980, the district court held an evidentiary hearing at which it was determined, inter alia, that the federal detainer had been withdrawn the previous day and that the parole violation warrant was being held in abeyance. See 28 CFR § 2.44(b) (1979). Accordingly, the court declared the case moot and granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. This appeal ensued.
Appellant challenges the procedure followed in his case by the Parole Commission, arguing that it violates both the Parole Commission and Reorganization Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 4201-4218 (1976), and the constitutional rights of parolees. The district court characterized appellant's case as raising "a provocative issue concerning the Commission's statutory authorization to issue an unexecuted warrant and to lodge a detainer without granting the preliminary hearing required under [18 U.S.C.] § 4214." The practices contested by appellant, however, have ceased. Though it is true, as appellant argues, that "voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal conduct does not deprive the tribunal of power to hear and determine the case, i. e., does not make the case moot," United States v. W. T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629, 632, 73 S.Ct. 894, 897, 97 L.Ed. 1303 (1953), it nevertheless must be established in such circumstances that a controversy sufficient to satisfy the requirements of article III continues to exist between the parties. Preiser v. Newkirk, 422 U.S. 395, 401-02, 95 S.Ct. 2330, 2334-2335, 45 L.Ed.2d 272 (1975). Appellant has failed to make this showing.
To satisfy the latter requirement, the likelihood of recurring conduct must be clear, see, e. g., First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 774-75, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 1414-1415, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978); United States v. New York Telephone Co., 434 U.S. 159, 165 n. 6, 98 S.Ct. 364, 368, 54 L.Ed.2d 376 (1977); State Highway Commission v. Volpe, 479 F.2d 1099, 1106 (8th Cir. 1973); Marchand v. Director, U.S. Probation Office, 421 F.2d 331, 334 (1st Cir. 1970). Appellant states that in the absence of injunctive relief, the Parole Commission will be free to lodge the detainer against him again. This may be true, but appellant offers no evidence to suggest that the Commission will do so. We have no reason to believe that the detainer will be relodged or that someday appellant will again be incarcerated, accused of a federal parole violation and subjected to the same procedures he challenges here. Compare Arnold v. Panora, 593 F.2d 161, 164 (1st Cir. 1979) (refusing to assume plaintiff would again be arrested for drunken driving and so become subject to allegedly unconstitutional statute). Appellant's "subjective fear" and "speculative contingencies" provide "`no basis for our passing on the substantive issues [he] would have us decide. . . .'" Preiser, supra, 422 U.S. at 403, 95 S.Ct. at 2335, quoting Hall v. Beals, 396 U.S. 45, 49, 90 S.Ct. 200, 202, 24 L.Ed.2d 214 (1969). See Marchand, supra, 421 F.2d at 334.
Appellant next contends that the detainer lodged against him may cause him to lose good time credit accumulated on his federal sentence. He also argues that he could lose credit on his sentence for time spent in custody while the federal detainer was lodged. If these possibilities can be deemed "collateral consequences" of the disputed conduct within the meaning of Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1968), then appellant's case might not be moot. Cases since Sibron have catalogued a variety of collateral consequences. See, e. g., Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 790-91, 89 S.Ct. 2056, 2060-2061, 23 L.Ed.2d 707 (1969) (prior conviction grounds for (1) enhancement of sentence under habitual criminal statute and (2) impeachment of character); Street v. New York, 394 U.S. 576, 579 n. 3, 89 S.Ct. 1354, 1359, 22 L.Ed.2d 572 (1969) (conviction grounds for disciplinary action by employer).
The present case is, however, distinguishable from the Sibron line of cases on two grounds. First, "collateral consequences" as described in Sibron are ones "imposed on the basis of the challenged conviction." 392 U.S. at 57, 88 S.Ct. at 1899. While the warrant and detainer contested in this case operate as parts of the mechanism that may eventually bring appellant before the Parole Commission for a parole revocation hearing, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 4213, 4214 (1976), it is difficult to see how they will provide a basis for a decision by the Commission. Should appellant lose his good time credit and credit for his time on conditional release, it will be because he is found to have violated the conditions of his parole, not because he was subject to a detainer. See Wilkerson v. United States Board of Parole, 606 F.2d 750 (7th Cir. 1979) (per curiam); Lambert v. Warden, U.S. Penitentiary, 591 F.2d 4, 8 (5th Cir. 1979) (per curiam).
Second, manifest in Sibron and its progeny is an awareness that upon conviction, a defendant's only hope of avoiding collateral consequences is through appeal. Here, there has as yet been no determination of appellant's status as a parole violator. Appellant will have ample opportunity in hearings before the Parole Commission, see 18 U.S.C. § 4214 (1976), to make his arguments against a revocation of credit on his federal sentence. Should he lose, avenues of potential relief will then be open to him. See 18 U.S.C. § 4215 (1976) (providing for appeals from Commission decisions to regional and then national boards); 28 CFR §§ 2.24, 2.25, 2.26 (1979) (implementing appeal provisions). We thus affirm the district court's dismissal of the challenge to the detainer.
Finally, appellant maintains that the district court should not have "permitted the unconstitutional detainer from [sic] depriving [him] of either his good time or credit time spent in custody of the detainer." As discussed supra, the outcome of the Parole Commission's determination is at present wholly speculative and appellant will not want for opportunities to challenge a decision once it has been made. Any ruling by this or the lower court on the length of appellant's remaining sentence would be, as the lower court declared, premature.