Source: http://ny.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19870323_0040824.C02.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2016-12-03 17:43:45
Document Index: 11687433

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 567', '§ 2243', '§ 1651', '§ 569', '§ 2243', '§ 1651']

| Rivera v. Santirocco
HECTOR RIVERA, PLAINTIFF,v.VINCENT SANTIROCCO, 42ND PRECINCT, SHIELD #24233 AND NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT, JOINTLY, SEVERALLY, AND INDIVIDUALLY, RESPECTIVELY, DEFENDANTS, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES AND EUGENE LEFEVRE, INTERVENORS-APPELLANTS, UNITED STATES BUREAU OF PRISONS AND UNITED STATES MARSHALS SERVICE, INTERVENORS-APPELLEES; MARK DUPREE, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, V. WILSON WALTERS, K. LIDO, L. WILLIAMS, T. DINKINS, M. LEE, T. CUTTS, Y. REYES, R. WASHINGTON, E. GURRIERO, INDIVIDUALLY AND IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, DEFENDANTS, UNITED STATES BUREAU OF PRISONS AND UNITED STATES MARSHALS SERVICE, INTERVENORS-APPELLANTS, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES, INTERVENOR-APPELLEE
Two appeals, consolidated for decision, questioning the power of a district court to issue a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum ordering the federal government to guard and safe-keep a state inmate during the term of the writ. Depree v. Walters is affirmed. Rivers v. Santirocco is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
On May 29, 1986, DOCS wrote to Judge Cannella protesting his order.*fn1 On May 30, the United States Attorney's Office, counsel for the United States Marshals Service and the United States Bureau of Prisons (collectively "the federal intervenors"), responded, also by letter, claiming that the court had no authority to order the MCC to house the inmate when the federal government was not a party to the suit. After a conference chaired by former Chief Judge Motley failed to resolve the dispute, Judge Cannella permitted DOCS and the federal intervenors to intervene and issued a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum directing the state to maintain custody of the prisoner during trial. Judge Cannella reserved decision until the trial on the state's application for an order requiring the Marshals to guard Rivera in the courthouse. Trial has been postponed pending this appeal.
In Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction v. United States Marshals Service, 474 U.S. 34, 106 S. Ct. 355, 88 L. Ed. 2d 189 (1985), the Supreme Court faced an issue similar to the one now before us. Writing for an eight-member majority,*fn2 Justice Powell held that a district court did not have the power to compel the United States Marshals Service to transport state prisoners from state correctional facilities to the federal courthouse to testify in a § 1983 action by a state prisoner against county officials. After noting that the Marshals have a duty to comply with the lawful orders and writs of the federal courts, under 28 U.S.C. §§ 567 and 569(b), the court found that these statutes do not provide a separate source of judicial authority to issue such orders or writs. "The courts' authority to issue such writs, however, must derive from some independent statutory source." 106 S. Ct. at 359. Starting his search for such a source with the federal habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2243,*fn3 Justice Powell noted that it specifically commanded the custodian of the prisoner -- the state of Pennsylvania -- to produce the prisoner in court, "but extends that duty to no other." Id. As the Marshals were not custodians of the inmate at the time the writ issued nor was the federal government a party to the litigation, the habeas statute did not provide a basis for the court's order compelling the Marshals to produce the inmate before the court.
The Court also examined the state's claim that the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a),*fn4 authorized the court's order, and concluded: "The All Writs Act is a residual source of authority to issue writs that are not otherwise covered by statute. Where a statute specifically addresses the particular issue at hand, it is that authority, and not the All Writs Act, that is controlling." Id. at 361. Because the habeas statute specifically directed the custodian to produce the inmate, it preempted use of the All Writs Act. The Court therefore found no authority for the district court's order, and affirmed the Third Circuit's decision reversing it. Pennsylvania Bureau teaches two lessons: A district court's power to issue a writ must derive from an "independent statutory source"; and the All Writs Act may not serve as the source of a district court's power when another statute deals directly with the issue. With these lessons in mind, we proceed to the issue before us.
The power of the district court to order the Marshals Service to take custody of prisoners during their attendance at trial is apparent. Although the Supreme Court did not address that issue in Pennsylvania Bureau, 106 S. Ct. at 358 n.3 ("The Marshals have conceded that they are responsible for the custody of state prisoners in the federal courthouse as witnesses or parties."), the Third Circuit did consider it. Relying upon 28 U.S.C. § 569(a) ("The United States Marshal of each district . . . may in the discretion of the respective courts, be required to attend any session of the court."), that court held:
Garland v. Sullivan, 737 F.2d 1283, 1287 (3d Cir. 1984), (quoting Story v. Robinson, 689 F.2d 1176, 1180 (3d Cir. 1982)), aff'd sub nom. Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction v. United States Marshals Service, 474 U.S. 34, 106 S. Ct. 355, 88 L. Ed. 2d 189 (1985). We agree.
Our quest for an independent statutory source for the district court's power begins with the federal habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2243. The habeas statute states that the custodian -- in this case, the state of New York -- "shall be required to produce at the hearing the body of the person detained." Plainly, the custodian's duty "to produce" the subject of the writ requires nothing more than that the subject be brought before the court. The statutory language cannot support the federal intervenor's contention that the custodian's duty under the statute to "produce" an inmate also comprehends a duty to guard, transport, and house him.
This common-sense interpretation of the habeas statute finds support in the case law. Over a century ago, in Barth v. Clise, 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 400, 20 L. Ed. 393 (1870), the Supreme Court held that a sheriff could not be held liable by the creditor of one of his prisoners for losses caused by the prisoner's escape after the sheriff had produced the prisoner under a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum. The court noted that, at common law, the authority of the writ superseded the authority of the original confinement once the custodian has produced the body of the person swearing out the writ. "After that time, and until the case is finally disposed of, the safe-keeping of the prisoner is entirely under the control and direction of the court to which the return is made." Id. at 402 (emphasis added). Until he is returned to the state, the prisoner "may be bailed de die in diem, or be remanded whence he came, or be committed to any other suitable place of confinement under the control of the court." Id. See also United States ex rel. Carapa v. Curran, 297 F. 946, 955 (2d Cir. 1924) (citing Barth and Justice Nelson's opinion In re Kaine, 55 U.S. (14 How.) 103, 14 L. Ed. 345 (1852), for the proposition that "pending the hearing on the application for the writ [of habeas corpus] the prisoner is entirely under the authority of the court issuing the writ . . . .").*fn5
While a prisoner who has been produced pursuant to a writ ad testificandum remains confined as a result of his original conviction -- otherwise there would be no need to resort to the extraordinary measure of issuing a writ to secure his testimony -- a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum supersedes the original commitment so that the legitimacy of that commitment may be adjudicated. However, this distinction does not effect the applicability of Barth's physical custody analysis to writs of habeas corpus ad testificandum. See In re Liberatore, 574 F.2d 78, 89 (2d Cir. 1978) (implying that a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum affects a "temporary transfer of custody from the sovereignty having the prior jurisdiction."); Johnston v. Marsh, 227 F.2d 528, 530 n.4 (3d Cir. 1955) ("When the prisoner came before the court [as required by the writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum ], the Judge, under common law doctrine, gained custody of him, the authority of the writ superseding that of the original commitment.").
We are not persuaded that United States v. Bailey, 190 U.S. App. D.C. 142, 585 F.2d 1087, 1103-04 (D.C. Cir. 1978), reversed on other grounds, 444 U.S. 394, 62 L. Ed. 2d 575, 100 S. Ct. 624 (1980), supports the government's position. This case holds only that, because a prisoner is in custody "by virtue" of his original confinement even when he is loaned out pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus, he violates the terms of that original confinement if he attempts to escape. Thus, Bailey does not deal with the physical custody of the prisoner during the term of the writ and is inapposite to the issue before us. The other "escape" cases relied upon by both parties are also not on point.*fn6
We conclude that the habeas statute has no application once the custodian has produced the prisoner before the court. A statutory void therefore exists between the time the prisoner is presented to the court and the time the court remands the prisoner back to the state. A district court may properly look to the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, to act within this void. As explained by Justice Powell in Pennsylvania Bureau, the All Writs Act authorizes a federal court "'to issue such commands . . . as may be necessary or appropriate to effectuate and prevent the frustration of orders it has previously issued in its exercise of jurisdiction.'" 106 S. Ct. at 360, citing United States v. New York Telephone Co., 434 U.S. 159, 172, 54 L. Ed. 2d 376, 98 S. Ct. 364 (1977). Here, no express statutory provision gives the district court the power to provide for the custody and care of the inmate now in its safe-keeping. If the business of the court for which the prisoner's attendance has been commanded is to be transacted without undue interruption, the court must be able to make such orders as it may find necessary to ensure the attendance of the prisoner. Under such circumstances, a federal court may use the All Writs Act as authority to order the Bureau of Prisons to house a prisoner, and the Marshals Service to transport the prisoner between the courthouse and the MCC, until he is remanded back to the state's custody.*fn7
Finally, we note that strong practical considerations also support this result. See Bailey, supra, 585 F.2d at 1104 ("Courts interpreting the term 'custody' in . . . cases involving writs of habeas corpus have demonstrated a flexibility responsive to such considerations of policy and common sense.") (footnote omitted). Our decision provides the district courts with the maximum flexibility in scheduling and controlling the affairs of the court. Principles of federalism as well as practical exigencies may limit a federal court's control over state officials. However, as Judge Sweet noted, a federal court, during the term of the writ, may order the Marshal to produce an inmate with "a simple telephone call."
Furthermore, the resulting distribution of the costs -- requiring the state to transport the prisoner to the courthouse and the federal government to assume the burden of his care and safe-keeping during the term of the writ -- seems to be a fair apportionment of expenses.*fn8 See Note, Transportation of State Prisoners to their Federal Civil Rights Actions, 53 Fordham L. Rev. 1211, 1228-29 (1985) ("The State is not unduly burdened when it transfers a prisoner . . .; such transfers occur regularly. Nor is a great burden imposed on the United States Marshal, as it is unlikely that he will have to travel out of the municipality in which he is stationed.") (footnotes omitted). Pennsylvania Bureau certainly does not require that the federal government be completely insulated from assuming its share of the costs. As the occasion for the prisoner's production and the duration of his attendance arise solely from an exercise of federal jurisdiction, it is hardly fitting for a federal court to compel a state to incur expenses beyond the production of the inmate and his return from court.
To summarize, once a state has complied with a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum, the district court may properly issue such orders to the United States Marshals Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons as, in the judgment of the court, will best assure the testimony and presence of the prisoner.*fn9 For the foregoing reasons, DuPree v. Walters, docket no. 86-2401, is affirmed. Rivera v. Santirocco, docket no. 86-2294, is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.