Flittie v. Erickson, 83-1540
| Citation | 724 F.2d 80 |
| Decision Date | 28 December 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 83-1540,83-1540 |
| Parties | Roger G. FLITTIE, Appellant, v. Jon R. ERICKSON, George Mickelson, Chairman and Harold Shunk, Member of the Board of Pardons & Paroles, Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
David O. Carter, Sioux Falls, S.D., for appellees.
Michael J. Schaffer, Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith, Sioux Falls, S.D., for appellant.
Before BRIGHT, JOHN R. GIBSON and FAGG, Circuit Judges.
Roger Flittie, an inmate at the South Dakota State Penitentiary, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 claiming he was deprived of a meaningful parole consideration at his hearing in August of 1982. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant members and chairman of the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles. A subsequent parole hearing afforded Flittie in April of 1983 renders his claims for injunctive and declaratory relief moot, and thus we vacate the district court's grant of summary judgment and remand with directions to dismiss on grounds of mootness.
On August 26, 1982, Flittie appeared before South Dakota's three-member parole board to make application for parole. The board unanimously denied Flittie's application. Flittie maintains that he was denied a meaningful parole consideration because (1) board member Jon Erickson, who represented the State of South Dakota during various phases of the prosecution and appeal of Flittie's criminal conviction, participated in the decision to deny Flittie parole and (2) Flittie's prison file, which was before the board, contained inaccurate harmful information.
The district court, after concluding that South Dakota's parole statute did not give rise to a protectable liberty interest, held that Flittie was not entitled to due process protections at his parole hearing. On appeal, Flittie seeks declaratory relief granting a hearing before a fair and impartial board and injunctive relief ordering the board to reconsider his application without the participation of member Jon Erickson.
In April of 1983, approximately one month after the district court's ruling, Flittie was again eligible for parole consideration. See S.D. Codified Laws Ann. Sec. 24-15-10. On April 25, Flittie appeared before the board to request parole and his application was denied. Jon Erickson did not, however, participate in the April 1983 decision. Rather, the decision was made by parole board members Mickelson and Shunk.
Article III of the United States Constitution restricts the decision-making power of the federal judiciary to cases involving "a case or controversy." A federal court must determine that "there is a substantial controversy, between parties having adverse legal interests, of sufficient immediacy and reality" to warrant granting relief. Backus v. Baptist Medical Center, 671 F.2d 1100, 1102 (8th Cir.1982) (quoting Maryland Casualty Co. v. Pacific Coal & Oil Co., 312 U.S. 270, 273, 61 S.Ct. 510, 512, 85 L.Ed. 826 (1941)). The controversy must exist during all phases of the litigation. Id. Cases involving substantial controversies may become moot on appeal by the occurrence of subsequent events. See Preiser v. Newkirk, 422 U.S. 395, 95 S.Ct. 2330, 45 L.Ed.2d 272 (1975). Because at his April 1983 hearing Flittie received the specific relief he requested, a hearing before a fair and impartial board and without the participation of Jon Erickson, his claims for injunctive and declaratory relief are moot. There no longer exists a substantial controversy between parties having adverse legal interests.
Flittie argues that his claims are not moot because they fit within a well-recognized exception to the mootness doctrine for claims that are "capable of repetition yet evading review." In order that a claim fall within the "capable of repetition yet evading review" exception to the mootness doctrine, two requirements...
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