Laws v. Barron

• Decision Date: 15 September 2004
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 6:04-133-DCR.,CIV.A. 6:04-133-DCR.
• Citation: 348 F.Supp.2d 795
• Parties: Alan Michael LAWS, Petitioner v. Jose BARRON, Jr., Respondent.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Kentucky

348 F.Supp.2d 795

Alan Michael LAWS, Petitioner v. Jose BARRON, Jr., Respondent.

No. CIV.A. 6:04-133-DCR.

United States District Court, E.D. Kentucky, London Division.

September 15, 2004.

Robert W. Ritchie, Knoxville, TN, for Alan Michael Laws, Plaintiff.

Marianna Jackson Clay, U.S. Attorney's Office, EDKY, Lexington, KY, for Jose Barron, Jr. Warden, FCI Manchester, Kentucky, Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

REEVES, District Judge.

This matter is currently pending for consideration of the parties' respective motions for summary judgment. [Record Nos. 16 and 19] Because the Court finds that there are no material issues of fact to be resolved and that the Respondent is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, the Respondent's motion will be granted and the petition for a writ of habeas corpus will be dismissed.

BACKGROUND

The facts relating to this action are not in dispute and are outlined in the original petition and in the materials filed in support of the competing motions and their attachments. Petitioner Laws was convicted on several fraud-related charges in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee (United States of America v. Alan Michael Laws, No. 2: 96-17-2). On August 6, 1999, he was sentenced to 87 months' incarceration, followed by 5 years of supervised release. The Petitioner arrived at the Federal Correctional Institution in Manchester, Kentucky, on October 12, 1999, and he continues in the Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") custody at that location. The BOP has projected his release date, via good conduct time, to be February 3, 2006.

At some point (evidently in 2002), the Petitioner moved the trial court to amend its judgment to add a recommendation that he be permitted to participate in the BOP's Residential Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program ("RDAP").¹ On January 15, 2003, the motion was granted with the Court noting that the amendment was appropriate because Laws had been arrested twice for driving under the influence. The Court amended the judgment to add the recommendation "[t]hat the defendant be permitted to participate in the BOP Residential Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program" and to add a requirement that Laws later participate in a substance abuse program, under a probation officer's direction, as a condition of his supervised release.

With these amendments, in March of 2003, the Petitioner applied to participate in the BOP's RDAP program. However, the Coordinator for all of the substance abuse programs at FCI-Manchester, Dr. Cynthia Hanson, Ph.D., denied him entry into the RDAP on the ground that he was ineligible. In an affidavit later submitted by the Respondent, she explains that eligibility is contingent on a finding of a substance abuse problem, and the determination of a substance abuse problem is based upon a two-part process in conformity with the BOP's Program Statement (P.S.) 5330.10. This program statement requires that the Coordinator find: (1) a substance abuse disorder; and (2) verification of the diagnosis in the prisoner's pre-sentence report ("PSI") or other similar documents in the inmate's central file. Both of these steps have detailed components which must be satisfied and which are at issue in this action.

According to Hanson's decision about Petitioner Laws, when he was interviewed for the first step, he described his drinking pattern as only the "social" use of alcohol. When Hanson went to the next step (checking his PSI and other central file documents), she found that:

Although the PSI documents alcohol abuse between 1987 and 1992 (2 DUI convictions + participation in an alcohol abuse tx [sic] program), it does not confirm a continued alcohol abuse problem between 1992 and 1996, when the inmate was arrested on the current offense.

Petition's Exhibit 3 (hereafter, "Ex.____"). Therefore, she determined that the Petitioner was not eligible to participate in the RDAP.

The Petitioner sought reconsideration of Hanson's decision on the ground that the PSI interviewer choose to use the term "social" to describe his drinking. Laws claims that, in actuality, "the last 12 months before self-reporting to the FPC Manchester in October of 1999[he] drank alcohol daily in an abusive and harmful manner," and his "previous record of two DUI convictions and a 30 day stay at an alcohol abuse program bears out the problems [he] had and continued to have with alcohol up until [he] came to prison." Ex. 4.

In response, the Coordinator explained that the "policy states there must be documentation of alcohol abuse during the 12 months prior to arrest" and the Petitioner's PSI does not contain such documentation. She attached to her response a paragraph of a memorandum from the Regional RDAP Coordinator, which provides that:

To reiterate, inmates must have a verified diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence. Verification must come from the PSI or other official record. To be eligible for residential drug abuse treatment, an inmate must be able to demonstrate he has used either an illegal substance in the 12 months prior to arrest and/or incarceration, or he abused alcohol in this same 12 month period. It is critical that you review the inmates on this list to make sure they meet this standard.

Ex. 5.

The Petitioner submitted another request for reconsideration, which included citations to case law in his favor, but it too was denied. The Petitioner then began the BOP's formal administrative remedy process, Remedy No. 304928, through the several levels of appeals, the final step being the attached response of the national office on February 24, 2004. Ex. 5-9. Having exhausted the BOP's administrative remedies (which the Respondent admits he has done), the Petitioner filed the instant action on March 31, 2004.

THE PARTIES' POSITIONS

The Petitioner

Laws' asserts that he is eligible for the RDAP because he has satisfied all of the statutory, regulatory, and program statement requirements for the program as contained in 18 U.S.C. § 1321, 28 C.F.R. § 550.56, and BOP Program Statement ("P.S.") 5330.10 at 5.4.1. He was denied entrance to the RDAP, however, based on requirements which are not found in — and are more stringent than — these sources. After meeting the known criteria for eligibility, the Petitioner discovered during the administrative process that he had been denied entry into the program because the BOP's undisclosed policy: (1) requires documentary verification of the prisoner's abuse of alcohol, while requiring verification of only use of other drugs; and (2) focuses on the 12-month period preceding his arrest or incarceration, requiring verification about the abuse or use taking place only during that time period. Laws asserts that the BOP acted arbitrarily and its decision was an abuse of discretion because it imposed eligibility requirements going beyond its program statement.

In support of his position, Laws relies upon the language in the above-cited provisions and two district court cases: Mitchell v. Andrews, 235 F.Supp.2d 1085 (E.D.Cal.2001), and Kuna v. Daniels, 234 F.Supp.2d 1168 (D.Or.2002). In each of these cases, the Court agreed with the petitioner, finding that the BOP acted arbitrarily in imposing additional requirements beyond those in its program statement. Those courts granted the relief sought and remanded the actions so that the BOP could reconsider the petitioner's eligibility using only what it found to be permissible criteria.

The Respondent

In response, the warden provides background information regarding the BOP's drug treatment programs, primarily through the attached declaration of Coordinator Hanson. [Record No. 15, Ex. B] She explains that the BOP has two types of drug abuse programs, both of which are available at FCI-Manchester. The RDAP (which lasts 9 months) requires inmates to be housed separately from other inmates and has follow-up stages for transition before release. Successful completion of the RDAP results in an inmate becoming eligible for up to one year early release under 18 U.S.C. § 3621. The other program is non-residential, is of much shorter duration, and is used for inmates with substance abuse problems that are not as severe as to warrant the RDAP program. Under this second program, early release is not available upon completion.

The Respondent asserts that the BOP did not abuse its broad discretion in denying Laws eligibility for the RDAP. Instead, he claims that the Petitioner was appropriately found ineligible for the RDAP because the BOP consistently requires documentation of actual abuse if the substance is a legal one such as alcohol. Also, "[c]onsistent with the DSM-IV definition of substance abuse, this documentation must report substance usage or abuse within a twelve month period." Under these requirements, the Petitioner is eligible only for the non-residential program, should he apply.

With respect to the applicable law, the Respondent contends that this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to review the BOP's eligibility decision under 18 U.S.C. § 3625, Davis v. Beeler, 966 F.Supp. 483 (E.D.Ky.1997), and United States v. Jackson, 70 F.3d 874 (6th Cir.1995). The Respondent points out that the cases cited by the Petitioner from the Ninth Circuit have not been adopted or referenced by any other court since they were decided. Rather, he claims Davis and Jackson are controlling in this circuit. Therefore, the Respondent asserts that the Petitioner's attempt to have this Court review the BOP's eligibility decision should be denied and the petition dismissed.

The Respondent also contends that the BOP's interpretation of a substance abuse problem and the criteria for arriving at such a determination are consistent with 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b). Further, he asserts that the interpretation and related criteria are based on legitimate clinical reasons and the BOP's experience with prisoners and drug programs and are applied consistently throughout the BOP....