Mickens-Thomas v. Vaughn, 03-3714.
| Citation | 355 F.3d 294 |
| Decision Date | 14 January 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-3714.,03-3714. |
| Parties | Louis MICKENS-THOMAS, Appellant v. Donald VAUGHN; Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons; the Attorney General of the State of Pennsylvania. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Ronald L. Buckwalter, J Leonard N. Sosnov (Argued), Wyndmoor, PA, for Appellant.
Francis R. Filipi (Argued), Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, for Appellees.
Before SOLVITER, MCKEE, and ROSENN, Circuit Judges.
This prolonged parole proceeding had its inception when the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons (Pardons Board) recommended to the Governor of Pennsylvania in 1994 that he commute the life sentence of Louis Mickens-Thomas (Thomas). The Governor commuted the sentence. Thereafter, Thomas made several applications for parole, each of which the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole (Board or Parole Board) denied. After exhausting all administrative relief in the State, including appellate court relief, Thomas applied to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for a writ of habeas corpus.
The Court found that the Board had violated the ex post facto provision of the federal Constitution. Mickens-Thomas v. Vaughn, 217 F.Supp.2d 570 (E.D.Pa.2002). The Court granted Thomas conditional relief of habeas corpus and remanded his parole application to the Board for further hearing under parole laws and guidelines that existed prior to their amendment in and after 1996. The Board appealed to this Court and we affirmed. Mickens-Thomas v. Vaughn, 321 F.3d 374 (3d Cir.), cert. denied sub. nom. Gillis v. Hollawell, 540 U.S. 875, 124 S.Ct. 229, 157 L.Ed.2d 136 (2003) (Mickens-Thomas I).
In Mickens-Thomas I, we thoroughly reviewed the Board proceedings and issued a mandate instructing the Board to rectify its ex post facto violations and give Thomas "fair consideration" under the Pennsylvania parole laws and guidelines in existence prior to 1996. Relying on the existing record and without conducting any further hearing, the Board denied Thomas's parole application for the fourth time on remand from the District Court. Thomas again sought relief in the District Court, which found continuing violations by the Board and noncompliance with our instructions. Nonetheless, the District Court refrained from granting Thomas's request for unconditional habeas corpus relief. It summarily concluded that the Board had weighed "all factors militating for and against parole" and that it could not substitute its judgment for that of the Board. Thomas timely appealed. We vacate and remand to the District Court with instructions to direct Donald Vaughn, Superintendent of the Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution at Graterford, and the Parole Board to release Thomas on parole.
In an effort to put this opinion in perspective, we review our previous decision in this case.
Thomas, now 75 years old, has been incarcerated for 39 years in a Pennsylvania penitentiary for his conviction in 1969 of the first-degree murder of twelve-year-old Edith Connor.1 He was sentenced to life imprisonment, ineligible for parole under Pennsylvania laws. Despite his conviction, he has consistently maintained his innocence since his incarceration. In 1993 Thomas first applied to the Pardons Board for a commutation of his life sentence. In 1994 the Pardons Board unanimously recommended the commutation to the Governor. The Pardons Board noted Thomas's attainment of a college degree, his participation in Alcoholics Anonymous, his participation in sex-offender therapy, the support of the Pennsylvania Corrections Department, the long length of time served, the numerous recommendations from scholars, religious and community leaders, and his overall maturity and stability. Mickens-Thomas I, at 377. On January 14, 1995, Governor Robert Casey granted commutation, commuting Thomas's life sentence to a term of "31 years, 9 months, 6 days to life," making him eligible for release on parole on July 21, 1996.
The Board initially refused to consider Thomas's parole application filed on July 22, 1996, one day after he became eligible for parole, by relying on a newly enacted statute, 61 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 331.34a (West 1995), which made an applicant in Thomas's situation ineligible for parole without having served a year in a pre-release center. Mickens-Thomas I, at 380; Mickens-Thomas, 217 F.Supp.2d at 574. On November 26, 1996, Thomas filed a mandamus action to challenge the Board's refusal to consider his parole application with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Mickens-Thomas v. Commonwealth, Board of Probation & Parole, 699 A.2d 792 (Pa.Commw.Ct.1997). The Board conceded in that action that the new statute could not be retroactively applied to Thomas's application. The state court reversed the Board's determination of parole ineligibility and ordered the Board to accept and consider Thomas's parole application within 10 days of the court's order. The court, however, denied Thomas's request for an order compelling the Board to release him on parole. Because every effort by Thomas to obtain favorable parole action from the Board encountered its utmost resistance, it is reasonable to infer that Thomas's successful appeal to the Commonwealth Court incurred the ire of the Board.
Pursuant to the Commonwealth Court's order, the Board considered Thomas's parole application on August 21, 1997, but summarily denied it. The Board denied the application even though its Guidelines recommended his release on parole and all voting Department of Corrections institutional staff, including the prison counselor and housing officer, recommended his release. Mickens-Thomas I, at 380-81. In its decision, the Board urged Thomas to secure the following before his next scheduled parole application review in 1998: investigation of a home plan; the availability of out-patient sex-offender treatment; participation in a program plan prescribed by Department of Corrections officials; maintenance of a good conduct record; a continuing institutional recommendation for parole; and an evaluation by mental health professionals experienced with sex offenders. Id. "The Board made these recommendations in spite of Thomas's apparent compliance with all of the Board's suggestions prior to the hearing." Id.
Before the Board considered Thomas's second parole application in March 1998, he had complied with all of the Board's suggested requirements stated in its 1997 decision. He maintained the positive recommendation of corrections authorities, who once more unanimously recommended his release and noted that he was in compliance with treatment programs. The prison counselor, corrections officer, and psychologist all endorsed his release. He continued to participate in a sex-offender therapy program along with an Alcoholics Anonymous program. Post-release support networks were in place. Once again, the Guidelines relied on by the Board assigned Thomas a risk-assessment score that favored release. Mickens-Thomas I, at 381-82. Despite his compliance with essentially all of the Board's conditions, the Board again summarily denied parole in March 1998. In this second denial of Thomas's parole application, the Board again advised Thomas to seek counseling and treatment, participate in prescribed programming, maintain a clean record, and obtain institutional recommendation for purposes of his next scheduled parole application. Unlike the 1997 decision, the 1998 decision recommended no specific sex offender treatment. Moreover, despite the comment that Thomas needed "counseling and treatment," psychiatric and psychological evaluations did not contraindicate his release. Id. at 382.
Before the Board considered his next scheduled parole application, Thomas filed the underlying federal habeas action in December 1999. Shortly thereafter, the Board denied Thomas's parole application in March 2000 for the third time. The Board gave as its reason the cryptic statement that it "[had] determined that the mandates to protect the safety of the public and to assist in the fair administration of justice cannot be achieved through [his] release on parole." Mickens-Thomas I, at 382. The Board denied parole once again, even though all voting members of the Department of Corrections institutional staff, including Thomas's counselor and work supervisor, unanimously recommended his parole. Again, he demonstrated a continued record of good conduct in prison and participation in sex offender therapy and all other programs prescribed by the Department of Corrections. Id. Despite all the recommendations and Thomas's continuous record of good conduct, the Board once again advised him to maintain his Department of Corrections recommendation as a precondition for consideration at the next scheduled parole hearing in 2002.
New to this third denial was the Board's classification of Thomas on the Guidelines form as a "habitual substance abuser." This increased his risk score by 2 and placed him for the first time in an unfavorable category for release.2 Id. at 383. The Board made the classification for the first time based on Thomas's alcohol abuse prior to his conviction almost 40 years ago. The Board assigned this classification although Thomas had not abused alcohol throughout his incarceration and had consistently participated in Alcoholics Anonymous. Id. We questioned "why, if past...
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