United States v. Alam

• Decision Date: 02 June 2020
• Docket Number: No. 20-1298,20-1298
• Citation: 960 F.3d 831
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Waseem ALAM, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

960 F.3d 831

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Waseem ALAM, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 20-1298

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Decided and Filed: June 2, 2020

ON BRIEF: Michael R. Dezsi, LAW OFFICE OF MICHAEL R. DEZSI, PLLC, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellant. Andrew Goetz, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: SUTTON, COOK, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

SUTTON, Circuit Judge.

Like many Americans in poor health, 64-year-old Waseem Alam has legitimate fears about the health risks created by the COVID-19 pandemic. And like many inmates, he has ample reason to fear that a prison exacerbates those risks. But when Alam moved for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), he failed to invoke all of the options for obtaining relief from the prison. Alam asks us to overlook that reality by finding the requirement non-mandatory or by fashioning an exception of our own. But because this exhaustion requirement serves valuable purposes (there is no other way to ensure an orderly processing of applications for early release) and because it is mandatory (there is no exception for some compassionate-release requests over others), we must enforce it. We affirm the district court's dismissal of Alam's request without prejudice to filing a new one.

In 2016, Alam pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud for his role in a roughly $8,000,000 Medicare kickback scheme. He received a 101-month sentence and has served about half of it. Alam suffers from obesity, poorly controlled diabetes, sleep apnea, and coronary artery disease. And he has kidney stones and bladder issues.

On March 25, Alam sent a letter to the prison warden requesting compassionate release. But he didn't wait for a response. Ten days later, on April 4, Alam moved for emergency relief in federal court. The government pointed out that Alam had not complied with the compassionate-release statute's administrative exhaustion requirement, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The district court responded that the requirement was obligatory and dismissed Alam's claims without prejudice. Alam appealed.

By statute, a federal court "may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed." 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). But that rule comes with a few exceptions, one of which permits compassionate release. The request may come through a motion in federal court filed by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. Id. § 3582(c)(1)(A). Or it may come through a motion filed by the inmate after he has "fully exhausted all administrative rights to appeal a failure of the Bureau of Prisons to bring a motion on the [prisoner]'s behalf" or after "the lapse of 30 days from the receipt of such a request by the warden of the [prisoner]'s facility, whichever is earlier." Id . After "considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a)," a court may reduce the prisoner's sentence if it finds that "extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction" or if the "[prisoner] is at least 70 years of age," has "served at least 30 years," and meets certain other conditions. Id.

Alam seeks compassionate release under § 3582(c)(1)(A). But he can't square that request with the terms of the statute. The Director of the Bureau of Prisons did not move for compassionate release. And Alam has not exhausted his administrative appeals because he waited just 10 days after the warden's receipt of his request to file his motion in federal court, not the required 30 days.

That leaves two questions. Does Alam's failure to satisfy the § 3582(c)(1)(A) administrative exhaustion requirement deprive federal courts of subject-matter jurisdiction to hear his case? If not, may we excuse Alam's failure to satisfy that requirement over the government's timely objections?

Alam's failure to satisfy this administrative exhaustion requirement does not deprive us of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has worked over the last decade or so to distinguish between jurisdictional rules (that bear on the competence of courts to hear a claim) and non-jurisdictional mandatory rules (that do not). See Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp. , 546 U.S. 500, 516, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (2006). The two rules differ in key respects. Chief among them: Courts must raise jurisdictional defects on their own initiative and may not overlook them even if the parties forfeit or waive challenges to them. See Gonzalez v. Thaler , 565 U.S. 134, 141, 132 S.Ct. 641, 181 L.Ed.2d 619 (2012). By contrast, mandatory claim-processing rules bind the courts only when properly asserted and not forfeited. See Eberhart v. United States , 546 U.S. 12, 19, 126 S.Ct. 403, 163 L.Ed.2d 14 (2005) (per curiam).

It's "usually a mistake" to "treat a statutory limit on our power as a statutory limit on our subject-matter jurisdiction," United States v. Marshall , 954 F.3d 823, 826 (6th Cir. 2020). A prescription limits our subject-matter jurisdiction only if "the Legislature clearly states that [the] prescription counts as jurisdictional." Fort Bend County v. Davis , ––– U.S. ––––, 139 S. Ct. 1843, 1850, 204 L.Ed.2d 116 (2019).

Nothing in this administrative exhaustion requirement clearly limits our jurisdiction. It merely imposes a requirement on prisoners before they may move on their own behalf: They must "fully exhaust[ ] all administrative rights" or else they must wait for 30 days after the warden's "receipt of [their] request." 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). That language neither "speak[s] in jurisdictional terms" nor "refer[s] in any way to the jurisdiction" of the courts. Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. , 455 U.S. 385, 394, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982). In appearance, the provision looks like a claim-processing rule, and in operation it acts like one.

The Supreme Court's "interpretation of similar provisions" supports this view. Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick , 559 U.S. 154, 168, 130 S.Ct. 1237, 176 L.Ed.2d 18 (2010). This exhaustion requirement in material ways mimics Title VII's requirement, which is non-jurisdictional. Fort Bend , 139 S. Ct. at 1847, 1851–52. Title VII requires claimants to present their claims to the EEOC so that the agency may decide whether to take legal action on their behalf. See id. Only after the EEOC elects not to act—or after 180 days pass—may the claimant proceed to federal court. Id. So too here. And so too in other cases. See Woodford v. Ngo , 548 U.S. 81, 101, 126 S.Ct. 2378, 165 L.Ed.2d 368 (2006) (holding non-jurisdictional the PLRA's administrative exhaustion requirement); see also EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. , 572 U.S. 489, 511–12, 134 S.Ct. 1584, 188 L.Ed.2d 775 (2014) (holding non-jurisdictional the requirement that Clean Air Act plaintiffs object with reasonable specificity to a rule during that rule's public comment period); Reed Elsevier , 559 U.S. at 163–65, 130 S.Ct. 1237 (holding non-jurisdictional the requirement that Copyright Act plaintiffs register their copyrights before bringing an infringement action).

Even though this exhaustion requirement does not implicate our subject-matter jurisdiction, it remains a mandatory condition. If the Director of the Bureau of Prisons does not move for compassionate release, a prisoner may take his claim to court only by moving for it on his own behalf. To do that, he must "fully exhaust[ ] all administrative rights to appeal" with the prison or wait 30 days after his first request to the prison. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).

When "properly invoked," mandatory claim-processing rules "must be enforced." Hamer v. Neighborhood Hous. Servs. of Chi. , ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S. Ct. 13, 17, 199 L.Ed.2d 249 (2017). Ross v. Blake illustrates the point. ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S. Ct. 1850, 195 L.Ed.2d 117 (2016). It rejected the idea that courts could create a "special circumstances" exception to the PLRA's exhaustion requirement. Id. at 1856. Because "Congress sets the rules" when it comes to statutory exhaustion requirements, the judiciary has a role to play in exception-crafting "only if Congress wants [it] to." Id. at 1857. Nothing in § 3582(c)(1)(A) suggests the possibility of judge-made exceptions.

Nor can Alam show that exceptions to mandatory claim-processing rules—waiver or forfeiture—apply here. See United States v. Cotton , 535 U.S. 625, 630, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002). The government timely objected to Alam's failure to exhaust at every available opportunity. And with good reason: It wants to implement an orderly system for reviewing compassionate-release applications, not one that incentivizes line jumping.

Alam pushes back that the exhaustion requirement is not mandatory because it does not contain language like "no action shall be brought" common to many mandatory claim-processing rules. But a sufficient explanation for a mandatory rule is not a necessary one. The language Congress used is quite mandatory anyway. It says a "court may not" grant relief without complying with the exhaustion requirement, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c), and thus operates as an "unyielding procedural requirement[ ]," United States v. Dowl , 956 F.3d 904, 908 (6th Cir. 2020) (per curiam).

Alam adds that the exhaustion requirement in § 3582(c)(1)(A), unlike the § 1997e(a) exhaustion requirement contained in the PLRA, does not limit itself to administrative remedies "available" to prisoners. 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) ; cf. Ross , 136 S. Ct. at 1858–62. That, he says, shows Congress did not mean to require exhaustion in all compassionate-release cases. But there is a distinction between the statutes in this respect. Prisoners who seek compassionate release have the option to take their claim to federal court within 30 days, no matter the appeals available to them. Prisoners lack that luxury under the PLRA.

Alam notes that another provision, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), authorizes prisoners to seek a sentence reduction without administrative exhaustion. He's right. But why that helps him remains unclear....