Opinion ID: 3011579
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: We initially must examine a number of jurisdictional issues to determine whether we can entertain Chong's appeal. First, the Supreme Court recently resolved a circuit split by holding that neither the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 nor the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 repeal district courts' jurisdiction to review aliens' habeas petitions filed under 28 U.S.C. S 2241(c). INS v. St. Cyr, 121 S. Ct. 2271, 2287 (2001); accord Liang v. INS, 206 F.3d 308, 317 (3d Cir. 2000). Second, S 2241(c)'s admonition that habeas corpus shall not extend to a prisoner unless the prisoner is in custody does not deprive us of jurisdiction to review Chong's petition. 28 U.S.C. S 2241(c) (2000). Chong filed her habeas petition on July 22, 1999. On September 3, 1999, while Chong's petition was pending in the District Court, the INS deported her to Malaysia. The District Court denied Chong's petition on February 29, 2000. We hold that Chong is in custody within the meaning of S 2241(c) notwithstanding her removal, because we measure custody at the time Chong filed her petition. See Carafas v. LaVallee, 391 U.S. 234, 238 (1968); United States ex rel. Wojtycha v. Hopkins, 517 F.2d 420, 423 n.6 (3d Cir. 1975) (The `in-custody' jurisdictional requirement is determined as of the date the petition is filed in the district court.). _________________________________________________________________ 1. The District Court denied Chong's petition on the additional ground that she waived a deportation proceeding as part of her plea bargain. Apparently, the District Court learned of this purported waiver from the government's pre-sentence report. The pre-sentence report is not part of the record, and the government seems to discount reliance upon it as a means of affirming the District Court. Since we find other grounds sufficient to uphold the District Court's decision, we need not investigate the alleged waiver. 5 Finally, we must determine whether an Article III,S 2 case or controversy continues to exist despite Chong's deportation. Regardless of whether an Article III,S 2 case existed during the District Court proceedings, Chong must show the subsistence of a case or controversy in this Court. See Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477-78 (1990). Although the parties did not raise the case or controversy issue in their original briefs, we must resolve the issue because it implicates our jurisdiction. See St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Barry, 438 U.S. 531, 537 (1978); Rogin v. Bensalem Township, 616 F.2d 680, 684 (3d Cir. 1980) (Inasmuch as mootness would divest us of jurisdiction to consider this appeal, we are obligated to address this issue as a threshold matter.) (footnote omitted). We acknowledge that we previously have suggested that it is within our discretion to consider a mootness question not raised by the parties. See, e.g., Jersey Cent. Power & Light Co. v. Lacey, 772 F.2d 1103, 1107 n.8 (3d Cir. 1985) (As mootness is a jurisdictional question, we may consider it sua sponte.) (emphasis added). However, the Supreme Court has held that courts must decide Article III standing issues, even when not raised by the parties, before turning to the merits. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 90 (1998) (stating that  `a court is bound to ask and answer [a jurisdictional question] for itself, even when not otherwise suggested' ) (citation omitted); see also Steele v. Blackman, 236 F.3d 130, 134 n.4 (3d Cir. 2001) (Although neither party argues that Steele's appeal is moot, we are required to raise issues of standing sua sponte if such issues exist.). Therefore, we proceed to examine whether Chong's deportation renders her appeal moot. Initially, we must address Chong's argument that we should entertain her appeal because we previously maintained jurisdiction over a deportee's habeas petition in Marrero v. INS, 990 F.2d 772 (3d Cir. 1993). In Marrero, this Court held that it would have jurisdiction to review a deportation order after the alien has been deported if the record revealed a colorable due process claim, despite the since repealed 8 U.S.C. S 1105a(c). Id. at 777. However, 6 Marrero did not address whether an Article III case or controversy continued to exist after the alien's deportation. The Supreme Court has cautioned that drive-by jurisdictional rulings of this sort . . . have no precedential effect. Steel, 523 U.S. at 91. Thus, we think our inquiry must extend beyond Marrero. Under Article III, S 2 of the United States Constitution, the exercise of judicial power depends upon the existence of a case or controversy. DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312, 316 (1974). In this case, Chong must show that her petition is not moot despite her deportation. Put another way, Chong must show that the standing she apparently had when she filed her habeas petition continues to exist now. See United States Parole Comm'n v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 397 (1980) (explaining that mootness [is] the `doctrine of standing in a time frame. The requisite personal interest that must exist at the commencement of the litigation (standing) must continue throughout its existence (mootness).' ) (quoting Henry Monaghan, Constitutional Adjudication: The Who and When, 82 Yale L.J. 1363, 1384 (1973)). Thus, Chong must show that she has suffered, or is threatened with, an actual injury traceable to the INS that is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision. See Lewis, 494 U.S. at 477. Even when a litigant is unable to meet the requirements of the general mootness inquiry, the litigant may invoke an exception to the mootness doctrine to gain judicial review. There are four exceptions to the mootness doctrine, so that a court will not dismiss a case as moot if: (1) secondary or collateral injuries survive after resolution of the primary injury; (2) the issue is deemed a wrong capable of repetition yet evading review; (3) the defendant voluntarily ceases an allegedly illegal practice but is free to resume it at any time; or (4) it is a properly certified class action suit. Artway v. Attorney Gen. of N.J., 81 F.3d 1235, 1246 n.6 (3d Cir. 1996). In this case, Chong contends that her petition presents a live case or controversy under the general mootness inquiry. Alternatively, Chong argues that sufficient collateral consequences flow from the Board's order of removal so that even though the INS already has deported her, we may entertain her appeal. 7 The Supreme Court has explained that an incarcerated convict's (or a parolee's) challenge to the validity of his conviction always satisfies the case-or-controversy requirement, because the incarceration (or the restriction imposed by the terms of the parole) constitutes a concrete injury, caused by the conviction and redressable by invalidation of the conviction. Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7 (1998). However, after the convict's sentence expires, some concrete and continuing injury other than the nowended incarceration or parole--some `collateral consequence' of the conviction--must exist if the suit is to be maintained. Id. In Spencer, the Supreme Court held that insufficient collateral consequences resulted from the petitioner's parole revocation to avoid mootness. Id. at 14-17. In so holding, the Court criticized precedent that presumed the existence of collateral consequences and that accepted the most generalized and hypothetical of consequences as sufficient to avoid mootness. Id. at 10. In particular, the Court criticized its decision in Sibron v. New York , 392 U.S. 40 (1968), where the Court held that the mere `possibility'  of adverse collateral consequences is sufficient to preclude a finding of mootness. Id. at 55 (citation omitted). Nevertheless, the Spencer Court did not overrule Sibron, instead distinguishing it by noting that although a court may presume collateral consequences in the context of a criminal conviction, the same cannot be said of parole revocation. 523 U.S. at 12. This Court interpreted Spencer's collateral consequences analysis in Steele v. Blackman, where the INS deported the petitioner after he filed a habeas petition seeking reversal of the Board's determination that his drug convictions amounted to an aggravated felony. 236 F.3d at 132. In holding that the petitioner alleged facts sufficient to show a continuing injury and serious collateral consequences, we stated: Erroneous conviction of an aggravated felony will have several continuing and serious legal consequences for [the petitioner], including serving as a permanent bar preventing his return to the United States to visit his family. See 8 U.S.C. S 1182(a)(9)(A) (Supp. II 1996) 8 (imposing a permanent bar on admissibility for aggravated felons). A determination that [the petitioner's] conviction did not constitute an aggravated felony would alleviate many of these collateral effects. Id. at 134 n.4. We hold that sufficient collateral consequences flow from the Board's order of removal to make Chong's appeal a live case or controversy under Article III, S 2. Spencer rejects Chong's claim that the Board's order of removal creates sufficient collateral consequences by rendering her ineligible to return to the United States due to possible prosecution for felonious entry since Chong is  `able--and indeed required by law--to prevent such a possibility from occurring.'  Spencer, 523 U.S. at 15 (quoting Lane v. Williams, 455 U.S. 624, 633 n.13 (1982)). However, the INA provides, in relevant part, that an alien who has been ordered removed and who seeks admission within 10 years of the date of such alien's departure or removal . .. is inadmissible. 8 U.S.C. S 1182(a)(9)(A)(ii) (2000). Thus, the Board's order of removal creates sufficient collateral consequences to render Chong's petition a live case or controversy by preventing her from entering the United States for ten years. See Tapia Garcia v. INS , 237 F.3d 1216, 1218 (10th Cir. 2001) (holding that the deportee's inability to reenter and reside legally in the United States with his family is a collateral consequence of his deportation because it is clearly imposed as a matter of law); Max-George v. Reno, 205 F.3d 194, 196 (5th Cir. 2000), vacated on other grounds, 121 S. Ct. 2585 (2001) (holding that the alien's deportation did not render his habeas petition moot because he cannot be admitted into the United States within ten years of the date of his removal). But see United States v. Mercurris , 192 F.3d 290, 294 (2d Cir. 1999) (holding moot the deportee's habeas petition challenging the district court's finding that his marijuana convictions rendered him an aggravated felon since the deportee's controlled substance conviction prohibited him from entering the United States in the following ten years, regardless of his alleged status as an aggravated felon); Diaz v. Duckworth, 143 F.3d 345, 346-48 (7th Cir. 1998) (holding that the petitioner's deportation 9 mooted his habeas petition seeking reinstatement ofgoodtime credit and stating, in dicta, that [w]hatever is left of Sibron is too little for a deportee to invoke, even if the deportee is complaining about a conviction, and not a parole revocation, like Spencer, or a prison disciplinary sanction, like Diaz); cf. Hose v. INS, 180 F.3d 992, 996 (9th Cir. 1999) (en banc) (holding that the deportation of the alien rendered her habeas petition seeking a stay of deportation moot). We recognize that Steele does not necessarily compel our holding because of the different factual scenarios presented. In Steele, the petitioner challenged the Board's determination that he committed an aggravated felony. 136 F.3d at 132. The INA bars aggravated felons from entering the United States for ten years. 8 U.S.C. S 1182(a)(9)(A)(ii). Thus, a determination that the Steele petitioner's conviction did not constitute an aggravated felony could allow the petitioner to reenter the United States. By contrast, Chong does not contest the Board's finding that she committed an aggravated felony. Therefore, the Board's unchallenged finding that Chong committed an aggravated felony would bar Chong from reentering the United States. Moreover, if we reversed the Board's finding that Chong committed a particularly serious crime, it seemingly would be too late for the Attorney General to withhold removal, since Chong already has been deported. Nevertheless, we suppose that, were we to reverse the Board's decision, the Attorney General could exercise his discretion and grant withholding of removal and allow Chong to reenter the United States. Accordingly, we hold that Chong's inability to reenter the United States for ten years after her deportation is a sufficient collateral consequence stemming from the Board's order of removal to render Chong's petition justiciable under Article III, S 2.