Raimondo v. Belletire

• Decision Date: 13 May 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-1991,85-1991
• Citation: 789 F.2d 492
• Parties: Carlo RAIMONDO, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Michael BELLETIRE, Acting Director, Illinois Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities, and Robert Mackie, Superintendent, Elgin Mental Health Center, Respondents-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 492

789 F.2d 492

Carlo RAIMONDO, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Michael BELLETIRE, Acting Director, Illinois Department of

Mental Health and Development Disabilities, and

Robert Mackie, Superintendent, Elgin

Mental Health Center,

Respondents-Appellees.

No. 85-1991.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 21, 1986.

Decided April 21, 1986.

Rehearing Denied May 13, 1986.

Thomas M. Hefferon, Chicago, Ill., for petitioner-appellant.

Mark L. Rotert, Asst. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., for respondents-appellees.

Before BAUER, WOOD, and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

BAUER, Circuit Judge.

Carlo Raimondo appeals the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus. He alleges that certain amendments to the Illinois statutes governing commitment of persons found not guilty by reason of insanity violate the constitutional guarantee against ex post facto punishment, deny him due process of law, and violate the equal protection clause. We affirm.

I.

In December 1974, Raimondo was acquitted by reason of insanity of rape and robbery by the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. In accordance with the Uniform Corrections Code ("UCC"), ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 38, par. 1005-2-4 (1975), the court found that Raimondo had not recovered from his insanity and ordered him hospitalized for treatment. One year later, Raimondo was released from his criminal confinement as an insanity acquittee and then rehospitalized as a civil patient under the Mental Health Code of 1967. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2 (1977). Raimondo has remained in the custody of the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Development Disabilities ever since.

Two Illinois statutes governing the confinement of persons found not guilty by reason of insanity ("NGRIs") have been amended since Raimondo's hospitalization. The Unified Code of Corrections, under which Raimondo was initially acquitted and then hospitalized, was amended in 1977. The original UCC limited hospitalization of an NGRI to "an initial period not to exceed 12 months." ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 38, par. 1005-2-4 (1975). The amended version changes this maximum hospitalization period to "the maximum length of time that the defendant would have been required to serve, less credit for good behavior, before becoming eligible for parole had he been convicted of and received the maximum sentence for the most serious crime for which he has been committed...." ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 38, par. 1005-2-4(b) (1979). In 1979, the Mental Health Code of 1967 was repealed and replaced by the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code ("MHDDC"). ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2, par. 1-100 et seq. (1979). The MHDDC limits the length of civil commitments to 60 or 180 day periods. Id. at par. 3-813. Under the previous Mental Health Code, the length of civil commitment periods had been indefinite.

Raimondo, having been committed under the old UCC and the MHC, challenged the application to him of the amended UCC and the MHDDC. He filed a petition in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois for writ of habeas corpus demanding that he be released from the state hospital because he was not lawfully hospitalized under the MHDDC (no new commitment petition had been filed and no hearing held since passage of the MHDDC), and was not lawfully hospitalized under the amended UCC (he had already been confined longer than the maximum period authorized). The Circuit Court found that the new UCC and MHDDC were properly applicable to Raimondo, determined that Raimondo had not yet been confined longer than the maximum allowed by the amended UCC, and computed that maximum period as expiring November 12, 1986, at which time Raimondo would have to be released or civilly committed under the MHDDC.

Raimondo appealed the Circuit Court's holding to the Illinois Appellate Court. The Appellate Court reversed the Circuit Court's determination that Raimondo could be lawfully held under the newly amended UCC. Raimondo v. Pavkovic, 107 Ill.App.3d 226, 231-33, 63 Ill.Dec. 63, 437 N.E.2d 712 (1982). The Appellate Court reasoned that because Raimondo had been civilly committed before the UCC amendments, he could not be brought under the amended UCC as a criminally confined NGRI. Id. at 231, 63 Ill.Dec. 63, 437 N.E.2d 712. The court stated that such treatment would violate the ex post facto clauses of the constitutions of Illinois and the United States. Id. at 232, 63 Ill.Dec. 63, 437 N.E.2d 712. The court concluded Raimondo should be treated as any other civilly committed patient under the provisions of the MHDDC. Applying the MHDDC to Raimondo, the court determined that Sec. 3-200 of that act establishes that civil patients who were once NGRIs may only be released as provided in the amended UCC. Id. at 231, 233, 63 Ill.Dec. 63, 437 N.E.2d 712. Thus, although Raimondo's confinement and release are not by statutory authority of the new UCC, the MHDDC applies the confinement and release procedures found in the UCC to patients like Raimondo who were once criminally held as NGRIs and are now civilly committed. ¹

Raimondo petitioned the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division for a writ of habeas corpus. He alleged that application to him of the procedures for confinement and release found in the amended UCC violates the ex post facto, due process, and equal protection clauses of the United States Constitution. The District Court denied the writ on cross-motions for summary judgment, and Raimondo filed this timely appeal.

II.

On appeal, Raimondo renews the arguments he made in the District Court. He alleges that application to him of the procedures for confinement and release found in the amended UCC violates the ex post facto, due process, and equal protection clauses of the Constitution. We disagree.

A.

To prevail on his ex post facto claim, Raimondo must show that the change in his rights is substantive and not merely procedural. Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 282, 293, 97 S.Ct. 2290, 2298, 53 L.Ed.2d 344 (1977). The ex post facto clause was "intended to secure substantial personal rights against arbitrary and oppressive legislation, and not to limit the legislative control of remedies and modes of procedure which do not affect matters of substance." Id. (citations omitted). An examination of Raimondo's rights before and after passage of the MHDDC shows that the changes introduced by that act were procedural only and thus do not implicate the ex post facto clause. ²

Before passage of the MHDDC, Raimondo's rights to release as a civil patient, formerly an NGRI, were governed by the MHC of 1967. Under the MHC there were three ways by which such a patient could be released from hospitalization. First, he could petition an Illinois trial court for discharge if he had a physician's certificate indicating that he no longer needed hospitalization. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2, par. 10-1 (1977). The court was required to hold a hearing on this petition with an opportunity for the petitioner to request a jury. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2, par. 10-3 (1977). If the court found the petitioner no longer needed hospitalization, it entered the appropriate order releasing her or him; if the court found continued hospitalization necessary, it entered a recommitment order, and thereafter the petitioner could not repetition for release under Sec. 10-1 without leave of court. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2, par. 10-3 (1977). Second, a patient under the MHC always had his right to writ of habeas corpus in state court. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/1, par. 10-6 (1977). Third, the superintendent of the hospital in which a patient was confined could release a patient any time the superintendent determined hospitalization was no longer necessary. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2, par. 10-4 (1977). If the released patient had been committed under court order, as in the case of an NGRI, the superintendent was required to notify the court that had entered the commitment order of the patient's release, and that court was required to indicate on the former patient's file that he had been released. Id. The court could, but was not required to, accept any recommendation by the superintendent that the former patient be restored to full legal competence. Id.

As interpreted by the Illinois courts, Raimondo v. Pavkovic, 107 Ill.App.3d 226, 63 Ill.Dec. 63, 437 N.E.2d 712 (1982), after passage of the MHDDC, Raimondo and all civil patients who were once NGRIs became subject to the conditions of confinement and release found at Sec. 5-2-4 of the UCC. ILL.REV.STAT. ch. 91 1/2, par. 1005-2-4 (1979). These provisions retain the three methods of release found in the MHC, but in slightly modified form. First, a petitioner still has the right to petition an Illinois trial court for release. Id. at 1005-2-4(e). Now, however, a petitioner need not have a physician's certificate and may re-petition the court an unlimited number of times as long as it is at least 60 days between petitions. Id. Second, a former NGRI under the MHDDC still has his right to petition for writ of habeas corpus in state court. Id. at 1005-2-4(k). Finally, a patient may still be released at any time by the superintendent of the institution in which he is being confined upon that superintendent's determination that hospitalization is no longer necessary. Id. at 1005-2-4(d)(2). The superintendent must still notify the court that originally confined the patient, but must now also notify the State's Attorney in the county in which the commitment proceeding took place. Id. The superintendent may then release the patient unless the court or State's Attorney requests a hearing. Id. If a hearing is requested, the State bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the patient is in need of continued hospitalization. Id. at 1005-2-4(g). The court, of course, must enter the appropriate order for release or continued confinement at the conclusion of the hearing.

The only change in these...