Court Opinion

ID: 9475370
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:25:11.709727+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:40.483793
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent.
The majority today effectively deprives the indigent probationer of his freedom simply because he is, in fact, indigent and unable to pay the fine imposed, a deprivation which is contrary to the concept of fundamental fairness central to the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 103 S.Ct. 2064, 76 L.Ed.2d 221 (1983), the United States Supreme Court made clear that a sentencing court cannot revoke a defendant’s probation for failure to pay the fine and restitution imposed upon him without evidence and findings that the defendant was somehow responsible for his failure to do so or that alternative forms of punishment are inadequate to meet the State’s sentencing goals.
We hold, therefore, that in revocation proceedings for failure to pay a fine or restitution, a sentencing court must inquire into the reasons for the failure to pay. If the probationer willfully refused to pay or failed to make sufficient bona fide efforts legally to acquire the resources to pay, the court may revoke probation and sentence the defendant to imprisonment within the authorized range of its sentencing authority. If the probationer could not pay despite sufficient bona fide efforts to acquire the resources to do so, the court must consider alternative measures of punishment other than imprisonment. Only if alternative measures are not adequate to meet the State’s interests in punishment and deterence may the court imprison a probationer who has made sufficient bona fide efforts to pay. To do otherwise would deprive the petitioner of his conditional freedom simply because, through no fault of his own, he cannot pay the fine. Such a deprivation would be contrary to the fundamental fairness required by the Fourteenth Amendment.
Bearden, supra, 461 U.S. at 672-73, 103 S.Ct. at 2073 (footnote omitted).
The majority agrees with the district court that the state trial court did not comply with the Bearden analysis in using as a basis for revocation Martin’s failure to make sufficient bona fide efforts legally to acquire the resources to pay his fine and restitution. Indeed, the state trial court made no such finding. That court simply found, based on the evidence adduced at the evidentiary hearing and from the judge’s own observation of Martin at the hearing, that Martin is not totally disabled and has some ability to earn enough money to make at least partial payment of the fine, attorneys’ fees and victim restitution. Transcript of Hearing on Violation of Suspended Sentence at 59. The state trial judge further observed:
I believe the Defendant has the ability to do some type of work. The record indicates that he was employed at Sioux Falls, in some manner or other, indicating that at that point in time he had some earning ability. However, I believe as I have observed the Defendant that at least he has the ability to shine shoes, if he would buy a can of shoe polish, buy a used towel, he could shine shoes in order to make restitution to the person that he thieved from. I believe he has the ability to wash dishes or pull weeds or deliver newspapers or sell Avon products from door-to-door.
Id. at 60. As the majority points out, such a finding is in no way equivalent to the finding required by Bearden, supra, 461 U.S. at 673, 103 S.Ct. at 2073, that Martin failed to make sufficient bona fide efforts to find work. Further, this observation is completely without support in the record. *334As long as ipse dixit statements of the judicial fact-finder (the state judge) serve to support the judge’s decision to return Martin, a cripple, to the penitentiary, this writer as a Dakotan, although from North, not South, Dakota, might suggest a contrary conclusion as to the shoe shining occupation. Given the sad state of the farm economy which underpins prosperity in the Dakotas, of which this court can take judicial notice, I doubt that Martin could make a living shining shoes in South Dakota.
The majority, however, upholds the State’s revocation of Martin’s probation on the finding that he intentionally refused to make any additional payments for reasons unrelated to his ability, or lack of ability, to pay. The state trial court found that Martin intentionally failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the suspension of his sentence. “If the probationer has willfully refused to pay the fine or restitution when he has the means to pay, the State is perfectly justified in using imprisonment as a sanction to enforce collection.” Id. at 668, 103 S.Ct. at 2070 (emphasis added). However, there is absolutely no finding, nor is there evidence in the record to support a finding, that Martin had any means by which to pay the fine, restitution and/or attorney’s fees. The only evidence in the record does, in fact, refute any such finding. Scott Schuft, Martin's supervising agent while on parole from the South Dakota State Penitentiary and while under supervision for the suspended portion of his sentence, testified that his conclusion, drawn from the income and rent receipts Martin showed him, was that Martin probably did not have the resources to make the payments due. Transcript of Hearing on Violation of Suspended Sentence at 36-37. He further testified that Martin told him he was having a difficult time paying for food and that it might be easier to return to prison. Id. at 37. Schuft indicated he was aware that Martin had a disability that made it very difficult for him to work, id., and that the source of Martin’s income was social security disability and food stamps, id. at 38. We interpret the record as indicating this disability is total and permanent for social security purposes.
In light of such evidence, the decision to imprison Martin for failure to make the payments ordered is a clear violation of the principle of fundamental fairness inherent in the Fourteenth Amendment and espoused by the Supreme Court in Bearden. As discussed by the Bearden Court, this concept of fundamental fairness has consistently guided the Court in its treatment of indigents in the criminal justice system. Bearden, supra, 461 U.S. at 664-65, 103 S.Ct. at 2068. To return Martin to prison simply because he is unable to pay the fines, attorney’s fees and restitution flies in the face of the Court’s history making the criminal justice system independent of one’s financial status. I therefore believe the decision of Judge Bogue of the district court, who would only grant a writ of habeas corpus in a most egregious case, should be affirmed.
I further disagree with the majority’s decision to reverse the district court’s order releasing Martin on bail pending disposition of his habeas petition. As recognized by the majority, it is within the discretion of the district court to enlarge a state prisoner on bond pending a hearing and decision on a writ of habeas corpus. In re Wainwright, 518 F.2d 173, 174 (5th Cir.1975). Said discretion must, of course, be exercised sparingly and only where a substantial constitutional claim exists together with extraordinary or exceptional circumstances justifying release. Calley v. Callaway, 496 F.2d 701, 702 (5th Cir.1974). See also Aronson v. May, 85 S.Ct. 3, 5, 13 L.Ed.2d 6 (1964); Glynn v. Donnelly, 470 F.2d 95, 97-98 (1st Cir.1972). In his amended petition for writ of habeas corpus Martin raises two grounds:

Ground one:

The Circuit Court was without jurisdiction to revoke petitioner’s probation because the probationary term had expired. On February 20, 1979, Petitioner was convicted of third degree burglary. He was sentenced to eight years in the State Penitentiary and *335fine [sic] Seven Thousand Dollars ($7,000) on March 14, 1979. The petitioner was paroled on September 30, 1980 and his parole supervision ended on December 14, 1982. The Custer County State’s Attorney filed a petition of revocation of probation on March 10, 1983, some three months after the court’s continuing jurisdiction over the Petitioner ended. Accordingly, the revocation of probation after expiration of the parole terms is both an illegal sentence and a violation of Petitioner’s federally guaranteed rights of due process of law.

Ground two:

Assuming on for the sake of pleading the Circuit Court had jurisdiction to revoke probation the record is devoid of any evidence that Petitioner failed to make bona fide effort to make restitution, or that alternative forms of punishment were inadequate to vindicate the state’s interests thus violating Petitioner’s federally protected rights of due process and equal protection.
Both grounds raise substantial federal constitutional questions. As discussed above, the second ground raises substantial questions of fundamental fairness inherent in the due process clause. In addition, the first ground raises a substantial federal constitutional question regarding the serious allegation of infringement of Martin’s liberty interest by the state. The mere fact that Martin did not state in his petition the federal constitutional provision violated is irrelevant. The facts alleged, suggesting that the State imprisoned Martin without any authority to do so, immediately bring to mind the federal constitutional question of the State’s denial of Martinis liberty interest.
Merely raising substantial federal constitutional questions, however, is not enough to enlarge a habeas petitioner absent special circumstances. Benson v. California, 328 F.2d 159, 162 n. 2 (9th Cir.1964). The circumstances of this case justify the district judge’s exercise of his discretion to enlarge Martin. Martin had been free on parole since September 30, 1980, nearly three years before the State began its revocation proceedings. The State had apparently decided in 1980 that Martin’s release from prison posed no threat to society. The State has not demonstrated that because Martin has not been making the required payments he is now any sort of threat to society. Indeed, the State has not demonstrated that any sort of prejudice will inure to it if Martin is allowed to remain free pending determination of the writ.
I thus believe that Judge Porter’s decision to enlarge Martin on bail was a valid exercise of his discretion given the substantial federal constitutional questions raised by the writ and the circumstances surrounding Martin’s release.
Finally, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that Martin’s first ground advanced for habeas relief is not exhausted. In order to have fully exhausted a claim, “the habeas petitioner must have ‘fairly presented’ to the state courts the ‘substance’ of his federal habeas corpus action.” Anderson v. Harless, 459 U.S. 4, 6, 103 S.Ct. 276, 277, 74 L.Ed.2d 3 (1982) (per curiam). To do so the petitioner need only cite to the provision of the federal constitution or case addressing the constitutional basis of the claim, or make a discernible reference to a federal constitutional right. Graham v. Solem, 728 F.2d 1533, 1536-37 (8th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 842, 105 S.Ct. 148, 83 L.Ed.2d 86 (1984). “[W]e must bear in mind that state courts, as co-equal guardians of constitutional rights, are able to recognize federal constitutional issues even when no explicit reference is made to the federal constitution.” Id. at 1537.
Martin’s first ground asserts a due process violation by the state court when it revoked his probation after his parole term had ended. The substance of this claim was presented to the South Dakota Supreme Court in the first two issues Martin presented on appeal: (1) whether the court had authority to revoke probation when no probation was imposed and (2) whether the *336revocation of probation and ordered incarceration constitutes imposition of jail time above and beyond the original sentence. These assertions clearly amount to allegations of due process violations under federal law and one at even the most cursory glance recognizes the implications of infringement on Martin’s liberty interest. The fact that the South Dakota Supreme Court did not address the federal constitutional issues present is not determinative of the exhaustion question. The test is, as above stated, whether petitioner fairly presented the substance of his federal constitutional claims to the state court. Anderson v. Harless, supra, 459 U.S. at 6, 103 S.Ct. at 277. Martin did so and thus exhausted both of the grounds presented in his petition for writ of habeas corpus.
For the foregoing reasons, I would affirm the order of the district court granting Martin’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.