Holmes v. U.S. Bd. of Parole
Decision Date | 10 September 1976 |
Docket Number | No. 76-1012,76-1012 |
Citation | 541 F.2d 1243 |
Parties | Auckland HOLMES, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES BOARD OF PAROLE and United States Bureau of Prisons, Defendants-Appellants. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
John Marshall Meisburg, Jr., U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Samuel K. Skinner, U. S. Atty., Chicago, Ill., for defendants-appellants.
Julius Lucius Echeles, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before FAIRCHILD, Chief Judge, SWYGERT, Circuit Judge, and CAMPBELL, Senior District Judge. 1
The question in this appeal is whether a federal prisoner is entitled to procedural due process prior to being labeled a "Special Offender," a designation that results in "special handling" during confinement. 2
Auckland Holmes, convicted of possession and sale of heroin in the Northern District of Illinois, was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Upon his incarceration at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, Holmes was classified as a special offender by the Bureau of Prisons pursuant to Bureau of Prisons Policy Statement No. 7900.47. After spending six years at Terre Haute, Holmes was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Lexington, Kentucky, a facility better suited for treatment of Holmes' respiratory condition.
Holmes' sentence was reduced from twenty to twelve years after amendment of the Harrison Act, and he became eligible for parole in 1973. His parole application was denied by the United States Board of Parole en banc in Washington, D.C., and his incarceration was ordered to continue until expiration of his sentence. Holmes appealed this decision within the agency pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 2.27, but his appeal was denied in May 1975.
The plaintiff then filed a complaint in the district court in August 1975. Jurisdiction was predicated on the Mandamus statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1361, and the Declaratory Judgment statutes, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202. 3 Holmes alleges that his classification as a special offender was arbitrary and capricious and that as a result of the classification the Parole Board denied his parole and furlough and delayed his transfer to the medical facility at Lexington. 4 He also asserts that his demand for a hearing in order to learn upon what evidence the special offender classification was based and to contest that evidence was denied. Furthermore, he alleges he has been a model prisoner and has received favorable reports in his files from prison authorities. He requests the issuance of a writ of mandamus to compel the defendants to remove the classification; to afford him the privileges afforded other prisoners; to give full consideration to his application for parole without considering the special offender classification; and for other appropriate relief. The district court denied the Government's motions for dismissal or in the alternative for change of venue and granted summary judgment for the plaintiff. In addition to holding that due process was required in the procedure by which a person is classified as a special offender, the district court delineated a set of procedures required prior to such a designation. These procedures include: (1) a written notice prior to the designation containing a brief description upon which the contemplated designation is based; (2) the opportunity to have the assistance of retained counsel, to be heard in person, to present witnesses and to confront and cross-examine any witnesses called by either or both defendants; (3) appointment of a hearing officer who does not have personal knowledge upon which the special offender designation is based; (4) written findings by the hearing officer if the officer should determine that a special offender classification is warranted, and submission of such determination and findings to the Bureau of Prisons; and (5) the opportunity for review of the hearing officer's determination that the special offender classification is warranted by the Chief of Classification and Parole at plaintiff's institution of incarceration, by the warden of the institution, and by the Bureau of Prisons.
The court further provided that: (1) the defendants forthwith expunge the special offender classification from all records and files of Holmes maintained by defendants or their institutions; (2) the defendants are enjoined from reclassifying Holmes a special offender without first affording him an administrative hearing as required in the order within thirty days of the decision to so reclassify him; (3) the defendants remove any institutional sanctions attendant to the special offender classification; (4) the defendants afford Holmes all privileges denied him due to his classification; (5) the Board of Parole grant Holmes a new parole hearing at the next session of the Board at his institution following the administrative hearing and review thereof, should the Bureau of Prisons decide to reclassify Holmes; and (6) in the event the Bureau of Prisons does not within thirty days of the court's order indicate an intention to reclassify Holmes, the Board grant a new parole hearing within thirty days of the order.
The first question pertains to the appropriateness of a writ of mandamus in this case. 5 The writ, although legal, is controlled by equitable principles, and its issuance is dependent largely upon judicial discretion. The availability of both administrative and judicial remedies must be considered as alternatives to issuance of the writ. U.S. ex rel. Girard Trust Co. v. Helvering, 301 U.S. 540, 57 S.Ct. 855, 81 L.Ed. 1272 (1937); City of Highland Park v. Train, 519 F.2d 681, 691 (7th Cir. 1975). Such alternative remedies, however, must be "capable of affording full relief as to the very subject matter in question." Carter v. Seamans, 411 F.2d 767, 773 (5th Cir. 1969).
The Government has argued that Holmes is precluded from mandamus relief because of his failure to allege an exhaustion of prison administrative remedies. Secondly, the Government asserts that prior to seeking mandamus, Holmes should have sought relief by filing a habeas corpus petition to challenge "conditions of his confinement."
Exhaustion of administrative remedies is required prior to the issuance of mandamus relief. See Beale v. Blount, 461 F.2d 1133 (5th Cir. 1972). This is consistent with the dictates that mandamus will not issue if an alternative fully adequate remedy exists. In addition, where an administrative decision is involved, exhaustion is more applicable to allow completion of administrative treatment of the particular problem. See generally McKart v. United States, 395 U.S. 185, 193-94, 89 S.Ct. 1657, 23 L.Ed.2d 194 (1969); K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise §§ 20.01 et seq. (3d ed. 1958, 1970 Supp.) 6 When prison administration is involved and fair procedures are available, a prisoner can often obtain expeditious review and relief without the necessity of seeking a remedy through the courts. Willis v. Ciccone, 506 F.2d 1011, 1014 (8th Cir. 1974).
This is not a case, however, where a party seeking judicial relief by mandamus bypassed an available administrative procedure, City of Highland Park, supra, or truncated the procedure without pursuing the process to its end, Beale, supra. True, Holmes did not follow the administrative grievance procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Prisons' policy statement in order to make his demands known to the Bureau. A denial of this demand, however, had already been rendered, not by the first or second party in the review procedure, but by the office which would be the ultimate decision maker in the review procedure. 7 To compel Holmes to resort to an administrative procedure that terminates with an appeal to a party in the highest level who has already rejected his request "would be to demand a futile act." Houghton v. Shafer, 392 U.S. 639, 640, 88 S.Ct. 2119, 20 L.Ed.2d 1519 (1968); U.S. ex rel. Marrero v. Warden, 483 F.2d 656 (3d Cir. 1973).
The Government also argues that mandamus relief is inappropriate because Holmes is attacking his "conditions of confinement" and such an attack may properly be made by habeas corpus. 8 We are not convinced by the Government's reliance on Preisser v. Rodriquez, 411 U.S. 475, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973), that habeas corpus is available to a federal prisoner attacking the "conditions of confinement." The Court raised more questions regarding the availability of habeas corpus to attack conditions of confinement than it answered. Indeed, there is conflicting dicta in this circuit with respect to this question. See, e. g., Knell v. Bensinger, 522 F.2d 720, 726 n. 7 (7th Cir. 1975); Bryant v. Harris, 465 F.2d 365, 367 (7th Cir. 1972); U.S. ex rel. Knight v. Ragen, 337 F.2d 425 (7th Cir. 1964); United States v. Kniess, 251 F.2d 669 (7th Cir. 1958). Assuming, however, that habeas is available, we hold that the district judge did not abuse his discretion in granting mandamus relief. See Carter v. Seamans, 411 F.2d at 769.
Under the designation of special offender, Holmes has been compelled to live with a stigma that affects his opportunities for furlough and parole. A transfer or a dismissal by this court without prejudice so that Holmes could file an action under section 2241 would serve only to perpetuate a gross injustice in favor of preserving judicially formulated niceties which are neither required nor jurisdictional. We do not countenance such a result. 9
In accordance with our position, we note that several other circuits have deemed the mandamus remedy appropriate to challenge conditions of confinement. Kahane v. Carlson, 527 F.2d 492 (2d Cir. 1975); Workman v. Mitchell, 502 F.2d 1201 (9th Cir. 1974); Mead v. Parker, 464 F.2d 1108 (9th Cir. 1972); Taylor v. Blackwell, 418 F.2d 199 (5th Cir. 1969); Barnett v. Rodgers, 133 U.S.App.D.C. 296, 410 F.2d 995 (1969); Long v. Parker, 390 F.2d 816 (3d Cir. 1968); Toles v. Katzenback,...
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