Court Opinion

ID: 9531231
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:08:52.803188+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:22.324689
License: Public Domain

DYKMAN, J. (concurring).
¶ 20. I believe that the rule regarding prison litigation arising out of foreign imprisonment is this: If a Wisconsin prisoner in a *763foreign jurisdiction can obtain foreign judicial review of an administrative decision of prison officials, this deprives Wisconsin courts of the authority to review the administrative decision. State ex rel. Curtis v. Litscher, 2002 WI App 172, ¶¶ 12-14, 256 Wis. 2d 787, 796, 650 N.W.2d 43.1 But when the prisoner is unable to obtain judicial review through foreign courts, he or she may do so in Wisconsin courts. Id.
¶ 21. I do not read Curtis as discussing jurisdiction, power, standing or competency. Its rationale is that because no statutory provision for judicial review existed, the inmates were entitled to a Wisconsin cer-tiorari review of the disciplinary decision of a private foreign prison. It is undisputed that the prisoners in Curtis were wholly prohibited from litigating in the courts of the jurisdiction where they were incarcerated. This analysis merely restates the well-known concept that where there is no legislatively provided review of an administrative agency's acts, review is by certiorari. Curtis, 256 Wis. 2d 787, ¶ 12.
¶ 22. This case is the next step, and the question is how a Wisconsin court determines that a prisoner lacks access to a foreign court. That issue was not present in Curtis because it was undisputed that the prisoners lacked access to a foreign court.
¶ 23. The majority first asserts that the burden of showing inaccessibility is on the prisoner. I agree. And I agree that a prisoner's failure to timely take an appeal to a foreign court usually does not entitle the prisoner to a Wisconsin review. But the majority takes an un*764precedented step to prevent Wisconsin judicial review of foreign prison conditions of confinement decisions by "elaborating" on Curtis. Curtis does not support the majority's conclusion that
the certiorari petitioner must present evidence showing that an out-of-state court dismissed a disciplinary review action on grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction or competency to review the matter; it is not sufficient to merely allege that out-of-state judicial review was unavailable.
Majority, ¶ 12.
¶ 24. The majority provides no citation for this conclusion. In Curtis, the inmates alleged that judicial review of a disciplinary decision by officials of a Tennessee private prison was unavailable, and the State did not challenge that allegation. Curtis, 256 Wis. 2d 787, ¶ 14 n.7. The majority is half correct. Allegations alone are not enough to obtain Wisconsin judicial review. But the reasons supporting the allegations may or may not show that foreign judicial review is unavailable. In Curtis, the allegations were sufficient because the prisoners' filings were dismissed with the explanation: "Please be advised that since you are now a resident of the State of Wisconsin you will need to make your filings in the State of Wisconsin." Id., ¶ 6. But in each case it will be necessary to examine why the prisoner believes foreign judicial review is unavailable. Only then can a court determine whether a prisoner's assertions are correct, as they were in Curtis.
¶ 25. Next, the majority concludes: "Third, whether another state has determined that it lacks jurisdiction or competency to review a disciplinary action involving a Wisconsin inmate presents a factual issue." Majority, ¶ 13. Again, this is half correct. It is a *765question of fact whether a court has addressed a jurisdictional question. But that ignores a second question: Whether a court in another state has jurisdiction or competence to address conditions of confinement cases arising out of a private prison. This second question is the important one.
¶ 26. It is beyond question that jurisdiction, competence and related issues are questions of law. In Matlin v. City of Sheboygan, 2001 WI App 179, ¶ 4, 247 Wis. 2d 270, 634 N.W.2d 115, we put it plainly: "Whether a court has jurisdiction is a question of law that we determine independently." In Precision Erecting v. M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank, 224 Wis. 2d 288, 295, 592 N.W.2d 5 (Ct. App. 1998), we noted: "Whether a Wisconsin court has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant is a question of law we review de novo." In Town of Delafield v. Winkelman, 2004 WI 17, ¶ 14, 269 Wis. 2d 109, 675 N.W.2d 470, the court said: "As a threshold matter, we must examine the issue of subject matter jurisdiction. Whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction of a particular action is a question of law, subject to independent appellate review." Reilly v. Waukesha County, 193 Wis. 2d 527, 534, 535 N.W.2d 51 (Ct. App. 1995), reads: "Whether the trial court had competency to decide Winkelman's impact on Reilly's wrongful-discharge claim after remand from the federal district court is a question of law that we review de novo."
¶ 27. Power and standing are no different. In Olson v. Kaprelian, 202 Wis. 2d 377, 381, 550 N.W.2d 712 (Ct. App. 1996), we noted: "An issue involving the scope of the trial court's power is a question of law which we review independently." As to standing, "[wjhether a person has standing to participate in an action or proceeding is a question of law that we review *766de novo." Carla S. v. Frank B., 2001 WI App 97, ¶ 5, 242 Wis. 2d 605, 609, 626 N.W.2d 330.
¶ 28. The result the majority and I reach is the same, though our analyses are very different. The majority concludes that because Myers did not seek judicial review in Minnesota, he has failed to show that a Wisconsin court has competency to decide the issue he raises. I conclude as a matter of law that a Minnesota District Court has competency to review a private prison administrator's decision arising out of a conditions of confinement case. The issue has not been answered in a published Minnesota case. But in both Spikula v. Brill, 1998 WL 268094 (Minn. App.), and Reyes v. Galland, 2000 WL 310413 (Minn. App.), the Minnesota Court of Appeals addressed cases arising in private prisons. While this is not dispositive, I conclude that it is likely that had Myers petitioned the applicable Minnesota District Court to review his underlying complaint that he was improperly transferred to segregation, the Minnesota District Court would have reviewed his complaint.2
*767¶ 29. Accordingly, I, like the majority, would conclude that the trial court correctly concluded that it lacked competency to address Myers's petition for a writ of certiorari. While the difference between my analysis and the majority's analysis may seem inconsequential here, the difference becomes significant in another case decided today, State ex rel. Tommy Ponchik v. Bradley, 2004 WI App 226, 277 Wis. 2d 768, 690 N.W.2d 860. I respectfully concur in the majority's mandate here.

 I use the term "foreign imprisonment" to refer to an inmate who has been convicted of a Wisconsin crime in Wisconsin but who has been sent by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to a private prison in a state other than Wisconsin.

 Minnesota has different rules than Wisconsin as to citing unpublished court of appeals decisions. Minnesota Stat. § 480A.08 Subd. 3(c)(note) provides:
Unpublished opinions of the court of appeals are not prece-dential. Unpublished opinions must not be cited unless the party citing the unpublished opinion provides a full and correct copy to all other counsel at least 48 hours before its use in any pretrial conference, hearing or trial. If cited in a brief or memorandum of law, a copy of the unpublished opinion must be provided to all other counsel at the time the brief or memorandum is served, and other counsel may respond.
This statute appears to be applicable to litigants, not courts. Minnesota unpublished opinions are not precedential but may be of persuasive value. Becker v. State Farm Mutual Automobile *767Ins. Co., 596 N.W.2d 697, 700 (Minn.Ct.App. 1999), rev'd on other grounds, 611 N.W.2d 7 (Minn. 2000). I conclude that I may properly cite Spikula and Reyes as persuasive of Minnesota courts' willingness to review Minnesota private prison matters.