Noorlander v. United States Attorney General

• Decision Date: 18 September 1972
• Docket Number: No. 72-1225.,72-1225.
• Citation: 465 F.2d 1106
• Parties: Walter Olie NOORLANDER, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL and His Subordinates, et al., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

465 F.2d 1106 (1972)

Walter Olie NOORLANDER, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL and His Subordinates, et al., Appellees.

No. 72-1225.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted September 13, 1972.

Decided September 18, 1972.

Walter O. Noorlander, pro se.

Bert C. Hurn, U. S. Atty., and Sheryle L. Randol, Asst. U. S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., on brief for appellees.

Before VAN OOSTERHOUT, Senior Circuit Judge, MEHAFFY, Circuit Judge, and DENNEY,^* District Judge.

PER CURIAM.

Walter Olie Noorlander appeals pro se and in forma pauperis from an order entered April 9, 1972 by the Honorable William R. Collinson, District Judge for the Western District of Missouri, which denied Noorlander's petition for a writ of habeas corpus.¹ We affirm the denial of the habeas writ.

Noorlander is presently confined in the United States Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield, Missouri. There is no real dispute involved in this case but a more or less detailed recitation of the same in conjunction with our opinion is necessary for an enlightened discussion of the many issues raised by petitioner.

On July 14, 1969 Walter Olie Noorlander was released from the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas where he had been serving two concurrent sentences for interstate transportation of forged securities. Noorlander's release was authorized under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 4163, which make release mandatory when the amount of time served plus the amount of good time earned equal the full term of the sentence imposed.² At the time of his release Noorlander was fully informed of the conditions upon which his release had been granted and that a violation of any of these conditions would render him subject to a forfeiture of all good time and reimprisonment for the remainder of his sentence not actually served. Under the provisions of 18 U. S.C. § 4164, Noorlander was to remain subject to these conditions until April 22, 1971.

In May and August of 1970 two separate prosecutions, each based on different transactions, were initiated against Noorlander for interstate transportation of forged securities. Noorlander entered a plea of guilty in each of the prosecutions and he was sentenced to two terms which were to run concurrently.³ Upon learning of the new criminal charges against Noorlander, the United States Board of Parole issued a warrant against him for violation of the terms of his mandatory release. Although the initial mandatory release violator's warrant was issued on July 10, 1970, apparently no further action was taken by the Board of Parole until September 15, 1971. On this date the Board of Parole entered a detainer notice with the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, where Noorlander was serving the two sentences for his 1970 convictions. The effect of this detainer notice was to order that Noorlander be retained in custody after completion of the sentences he was currently serving in order that a disposition could then be made on his mandatory release violation.

At the outset it should be noted that there are several points which are not in question in this case. First, appellant in no way challenges the validity of any of the convictions upon which the various sentences involved here were imposed. Second, there is no question but that Noorlander's self-admitted criminal conduct in 1970 constituted a violation of the terms of his mandatory release. Third, there can be no doubt that the United States Board of Parole issued the warrant against Noorlander within the statutory period during which his mandatory release was subject to revocation. Finally, it is clear that the United States Board of Parole took no further action on the warrant it had issued until after the statutory period had expired.

Before reaching appellant's attack on the actions of the Board of Parole, two alleged errors are raised challenging the adequacy of the review given to appellant's petition by the district court. First, appellant argues that the district court erred in not affording him an evidentiary hearing on his petition. While it is true that due process frequently requires that an evidentiary hearing be afforded in a habeas corpus proceeding, such a hearing is neither required nor could it be meaningful in cases such as this where there are no material facts in dispute. Ford v. Boeger, 362 F.2d 999 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, Curtis v. Boeger, 386 U.S. 914, 87 S.Ct. 857, 17 L.Ed.2d 787 (1966); Howard v. United States, 274 F.2d 100 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 363 U.S. 832, 80 S.Ct. 1604, 4 L.Ed.2d 1525 (1960). The merits of appellant's case here involve exclusively questions of law raised by undisputed facts clearly present in the record. Thus, no evidentiary hearing was required. Appellant further argues that the district court erred in not answering all of the questions raised by his petition. In support of this argument appellant lists seventeen questions that the district court allegedly failed to answer. Additionally, appellant quite correctly points to the careful consideration that is to be given to pro se petitions such as appellant's. The claim that appellant's petition was not given a complete review, however, is utterly without merit. Examination of the opinion of the district court and the extensive pleadings filed by appellant clearly indicate that the district court gave very meticulous consideration to appellant's petition and responded thoroughly to each material issue raised. The mere repetition of the same issues in different language does not entitle appellant to a reexamination of the answers already given to those issues.

The more important questions raised by this case relate to Noorlander's attack on the actions of the Board of Parole in entering a detainer notice against him. In essence appellant's arguments are: (1) that the failure to credit the time "served" on mandatory release against the unserved remainder of the sentence is a deprivation of liberty without due process and amounts to a bill of attainder; (2) that the confiscation of good time and industrial time credits violates due process; (3) that the Board of Parole lost jurisdiction over appellant when it failed to act within the statutory period on the warrant it had issued; and (4) that the failure of the Board of Parole to take further action on the detainer notice violates equal protection and due process.

None of appellant's arguments is well taken. The language of 18 U.S. C. § 4164 clearly states that a prisoner placed on mandatory release shall "be deemed as if released on parole until the expiration of the maximum term or terms for which he was sentenced less one hundred...