Case Name: Robert L. WRIGHT, Jr., Appellant, v. U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION, Joseph Bogan, Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1991-10-24
Citations: 948 F.2d 433
Docket Number: No. 90-5420
Parties: Robert L. WRIGHT, Jr., Appellant, v. U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION, Joseph Bogan, Appellees.
Judges: Before MAGILL, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and BEAM, Circuit Judge.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 948
Pages: 433–438

Head Matter:
Robert L. WRIGHT, Jr., Appellant, v. U.S. PAROLE COMMISSION, Joseph Bogan, Appellees.
No. 90-5420.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted Feb. 14, 1991.
Decided Oct. 24, 1991.
Andrea K. George, Minneapolis, Minn., argued (Scott F. Tilsen and Andrea K. George, on the brief), for appellant.
Joseph T. Walbran, Minneapolis, Minn., argued (Jerome G. Arnold, Joseph T. Wal-bran and Stephanie R. Derby, on the brief), for appellees.
Before MAGILL, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and BEAM, Circuit Judge.

Opinion:
BEAM, Circuit Judge.
Robert L. Wright appeals an order of the district court denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (1988). The district court adopted the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge. Wright asserts that the district court erred in finding that a decision of the United States Parole Commission, revoking Wright's parole and setting his reparole range at 100 to 148 months, was not arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion. We affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On October 2, 1987, Wright was released on parole from a community treatment center in Waterloo, Iowa, having 3014 days remaining to serve for federal firearms violations. Within days of his release, Wright stole several items from a department store and assaulted a security officer who chased and attempted to detain him. A warrant was issued for Wright's arrest on October 9, 1987, charging him with theft, assault causing bodily harm, and leaving the district without permission. Wright turned himself in to authorities on October 14, 1987.
At Wright's local parole revocation hearing, on January 19,1988, the hearing examiner found that Wright had violated his parole by committing theft and leaving the district without permission. However, the examiner found insufficient evidence to support the assault charge. Based on the charges of theft and leaving the district, the examiner assessed an offense severity rating of one under the Commission's repa-róle guidelines, a salient factor score of three, and recommended a reparole range of twelve to sixteen months.
The local examiner's findings were reviewed by a panel of examiners at the Commission's regional level. The panel agreed with the local examiner respecting the charges of theft and leaving the district. The panel also found, contrary to the local examiner, that the evidence adduced at the local hearing supported a finding that Wright assaulted the security officer, causing the officer bodily harm. The determination respecting the assault charge was based on the report of Wright's parole officer, which had been submitted in connection with the arrest warrant, a police report concerning Wright's theft, and evidence developed at the local hearing. With the assault charge, the panel increased Wright's offense severity rating to seven, retained the salient factor score of three, and imposed a reparole guideline range of 100 to 148 months. The panel then revoked Wright's parole and ordered that his sentence be continued to expiration. Wright appealed the regional panel's findings to the Commission's national appeals board, and the national board affirmed the decision of the regional panel.
Wright then filed an application for habe-as relief in federal district court, arguing that the Commission abused its discretion and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner, thereby denying him due process, when it found that he assaulted the security officer. Wright asserted several specific claims, two of which are relevant to this appeal. First, Wright argued that insufficient evidence existed to find he committed the assault and that his reparole range was improperly increased to 100 to 148 months based on the assault. Second, Wright contended that the Commission improperly considered as evidence a letter his parole officer sent to the regional panel which was not sent to Wright.
The district court denied Wright's petition. The court concluded that the Commission's decision was not arbitrary and capricious because sufficient evidence existed in the record to support the finding that Wright assaulted the security officer. Furthermore, the court determined that even if the failure to provide Wright with notice of the parole officer's letter amounted to a due process violation, submission of the letter did not prejudice Wright's hearing because the letter merely reiterated evidence presented at the local hearing, which evidence Wright had an opportunity to address, and because the letter was not considered by the regional panel. Wright appeals this decision.
II. DISCUSSION
We affirm the district court's conclusion that Wright is not entitled to habeas relief. On appeal, Wright asserts the same two claims he asserted in district court. Although the district court addressed both claims on their merits, we find that the district court lacked jurisdiction to review Wright's first claim, and we affirm on the merits the district court's denial of Wright's second claim.
This circuit has determined that under 18 U.S.C. § 4218(d) (1982), a federal court has no jurisdiction to review for abuse of discretion a substantive decision of the United States Parole Commission to grant or deny parole. Jones v. United States Bureau of Prisons, 903 F.2d 1178, 1182-83 (8th Cir.1990). Accord Larson v. United States, 907 F.2d 85, 86-87 (8th Cir.1990) (following Jones). A decision is substantive and not reviewable if it " 'involves the exercise of judgment among a range of possible choices or options.' " Jones, 903 F.2d at 1184 (quoting Wallace v. Christensen, 802 F.2d 1539, 1552 (9th Cir.1986)). However, federal court review of the Commission's decision is available to determine whether the Commission has exceeded its statutory authority or violated the Constitution. Id. at 1184 & n. 15.
Applying the jurisdictional test to this case, we find that the district court did not have jurisdiction to review Wright's first claim, that the Commission erred in finding Wright committed an assault and increasing his reparole range. The Commission's determination that Wright assaulted the security officer, and the resulting increase in Wright's reparole range, is a substantive decision of the Commission beyond federal court review. This determination involves the decision-making process of the Commission and " 'the exercise of judgment among a range of possible choices or options.' " Id. at 1184 (quoting Wallace, 802 F.2d at 1552). Both Jones and Larson involved similar claims, and both denied the claims on jurisdictional grounds. See Jones, 903 F.2d at 1184 ("[W]e have no jurisdiction to entertain Jones' claim that the Commission erred in determining his parole release guidelines to be . above his minimum guideline limit. Such action is a substantive decision . to deny parole."); Larson, 907 F.2d at 87 ("Although Larson alleges that the Commission abused its discretion in relying on unsubstantiated information in advancing his release date ., he makes no claim that the Commission acted outside its statutory authority."). Therefore, the district court's denial of Wright's first argument will be affirmed on jurisdictional grounds.
Wright's second argument, that the Commission denied him due process by considering his parole officer's letter without providing him notice of the letter, is a colorable constitutional claim. The claim raises a due process issue independent of the Commission's decision-making process. As such, the claim was sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the district court on this issue. However, we nevertheless affirm on the merits the district court's conclusion that submission of the letter did not prejudice Wright's parole hearing. The record establishes that the parole officer's letter does not contain new information but only reiterates the evidence presented at Wright's local revocation hearing. Compare Addendum to Brief of Appellant at 81 (parole report setting forth evidence presented at local hearing) with Addendum to Brief of Appellee at 3 (letter of parole officer). The record also establishes that the Commission did not consider the letter in determining that Wright assaulted the security officer. The Commission set forth the sources of information it used in determining that Wright assaulted the officer, and the letter from Wright's parole officer was not among them. Addendum to Brief of Appellant at 97 (Commission's Notice of Action stating that the Commission's decision was based on "[¿Information contained in [Wright's parole officer's] telephonic report of 10-9-87, police report # 87-41706 and information developed at the parole revocation hearing of January 19, 1988"). Thus, although it is likely that no due process violation occurred because Wright had an opportunity to respond at the local hearing to all the information set forth in the letter, we affirm the district court's conclusion that submission of the letter did not prejudice Wright's parole hearing.
III. CONCLUSION
Wright is not entitled to relief on his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court lacked jurisdiction to review the Parole Commission's decision to increase Wright's reparole range based on Wright's assault. Furthermore, we affirm on the merits the district court's conclusion that Wright was not prejudiced by a letter sent to the Commission. Therefore, the judgment of the district court denying Wright's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is affirmed.
. Although Congress has repealed parole provisions codified at 18 U.S.C. § 4201 et seq., Congress specifically kept these provisions '"in effect for five years after the . effective date [of the repeal] as to people who committed crimes before November 1, 1987.'" Jones v. United States Bureau of Prisons, 903 F.2d 1178, 1179 n. 2 (8th Cir.1990) (citation omitted).