USA v. Sumner
| Decision Date | 11 August 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-10523,99-10523 |
| Citation | 226 F.3d 1005 |
| Parties | (9th Cir. 2000) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THOMAS ALAN SUMNER, Defendant-Appellant |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
COUNSEL: Ann H. Voris, Assistant Federal Defender, Fresno, California, for the defendant-appellant.
Virna L. Santos, Assistant United States Attorney, Fresno, California, for the plaintiff-appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Myron D. Crocker, Senior District Judge, Presiding D.C. No. CV-72-01707-MDC
Before: Arthur L. Alarcon, Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, and Ronald M. Gould, Circuit Judges.
Thomas Alan Sumner appeals from the order of the district court denying his motion to expunge his twenty-six-year-old conviction for the unlawful possession of narcotics and to order the Government to remove all records of his arrest and conviction from its central files. The district court denied the motion after concluding that Sumner did not satisfy the criteria for having his criminal record expunged under the Federal Youth Corrections Act (the "FYCA"), 18 U.S.C. S 5010(a),2 and that it lacked jurisdiction to expunge his record. We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. S 1291. We affirm, because we conclude that the district court correctly determined that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the merits of Sumner's motion.
On April 28, 1972, Sumner was arrested in Yosemite National Park after his companions sold narcotics to an undercover ranger for the United States Forest Service. He was charged in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California with the unlawful possession of a controlled substance under 21 U.S.C. S 844(a). He entered a guilty plea to the charge on October 30, 1972, and was sentenced under the FYCA. The district court ordered Sumner to serve a 90-day term of probation and to pay a fine of $100. Sumner failed to pay the fine within the prescribed time period, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Sumner paid the fine two days after the deadline had passed, and the bench warrant was immediately recalled.
On October 4, 1999, twenty-six years after his conviction, Sumner filed a motion in the same criminal case to have his conviction expunged and to have all records of his arrest and conviction physically removed from the Government's central files. He is currently employed as a substitute teacher and wishes to become certified to teach students in Nevada on a permanent basis. He currently lives under the disabilities associated with a criminal record, and he fears that the record of his arrest and conviction will preclude him from obtaining the requisite teaching credentials.3
In his motion, Sumner argued that the district court should expunge his criminal record under the "set aside " provision of the FYCA. In the alternative, he argued that the district court could expunge his record under its "inherent powers under equitable principles." The district court denied Sumner's request from the bench during a hearing on the motion and subsequently issued a written order denying the motion. The transcript of the hearing reads as follows:
The written order states:
The court determined that it would not order expunction under the theory that it was within its inherent equitable powers to do so, and thus is without jurisdiction to grant the relief requested.
At the hearing, counsel moved the court to issue a certificate to set aside the conviction under 18 U.S.C. S 5021(b), nunc pro tunc. Because [Sumner] was not discharged from probation prior to serving the maximum period of probation, he did not satisfy the criteria for issuance of the certificate. Therefore, the court denies the request for issuance of the certificate nunc pro tunc.
We interpret these statements as indicating that the district court denied Sumner's motion to expunge the record of his arrest and conviction, because it concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to do so.
Sumner contends that the district court had jurisdiction under the FYCA, or under its "inherent power under equitable principles," to grant the motion to expunge his conviction and to have the record of his arrest and conviction removed from the Government's central files. "As courts of limited jurisdiction, our power to adjudicate claims is limited to that granted by Congress, and such grants are not to be lightly inferred." Al Nieto v. Ecker, 845 F.2d 868, 871 (9th Cir. 1988). We review de novo the question whether the district court possessed the jurisdiction to grant Sumner's motion. See Hexom v. Oregon Dep't of Transp., 177 F.3d 1134, 1135 (9th Cir. 1999).
The FYCA expressly allows youthful offenders who are sentenced to probation to have their convictions automatically "set aside" where the district court grants an unconditional discharge from probation "prior to the expiration of the maximum period of probation . . . fixed by the court."4 See 18 U.S.C. S 5021(b) (1972) (emphasis added). It also gives a district court limited jurisdiction to exercise its discretion retroactively to grant an early unconditional discharge and to set aside a conviction after the completion of the probationary period. See Tuten v. United States, 460 U.S. 660, 668 (1983). That jurisdiction, however, has only been extended to those circumstances in which the failure to grant an early unconditional discharge from probation was due to an oversight by the district court. See id.; see, e.g. , United States v. Fryer, 545 F.2d 11, 13 n.3 (6th Cir. 1976) ().
In the present case, the record does not indicate that Sumner received an early unconditional discharge from probation, or that he failed to receive one due to an oversight. In fact, it indicates that the opposite is true. Sumner did not present evidence to the district court or even allege that his probation officer failed "to file a report evaluating [Sumner's] conduct and progress and reminding the court that an early unconditional discharge will automatically set aside the conviction." Tuten, 460 U.S. at 668 n.12. The record also reflects that the district court set aside the conviction of one of Sumner's codefendants during the probationary period. If anything, the record supports the conclusion that the district court's failure to exercise its jurisdiction to set aside Sumner's conviction during the probationary period was conscious, and that it resulted from Sumner's failure to comply with a condition of his sentence requiring the payment of a fine during the term of probation.
We decline to extend the circumstances in which a district court may exercise its jurisdiction and grant a motion to set aside a conviction retroactively under the FYCA to include those presented by this case. Martin v. Henley, 452 F.2d 295, 299 (9th Cir. 1971). It does not imply the ability to alter the substance of that which actually transpired or to backdate events to serve some other purpose. See Kusay v. United States, 62 F.3d 192, 193 (7th Cir. 1995). Rather, its use is limited to making the record reflect what the district court actually intended to do at an earlier date, but which it did not sufficiently express or did not accomplish due to some error or inadvertence. See Fierro v. Reno, 217 F.3d 1, 4-5 (1st Cir. 2000).
Limiting the retroactive applicability of the FYCA set aside provision to those cases in which the district court inadvertently failed to grant an early unconditional discharge from probation is also consistent with legislative intent. The purpose of the FYCA set aside provision was not to guarantee all youthful offenders a clean slate. Rather, it was designed to provide them with an incentive to make the most of their period of probation or confinement. See Dorszynski v. United States, 418 U.S. 424, 434-35 (1974) (). "The incentive might be significantly weaker if convictions were set aside regardless of whether the youth offender, by his conduct during the probationary period, had convinced the sentencing court to discharge him before the expiration of his probationary term." Tuten, 460 U.S. at 667. The policy underlying the statute, therefore, is best served by limiting the circumstances in which a conviction may be set aside to those in which the district court either granted an early unconditional discharge during the probationary period or would have done so but for an oversight. Because Sumner has not demonstrated that the district court's failure to set aside his conviction during the probationary period was the result of a mere oversight, we hold that the FYCA did not confer jurisdiction upon the district court to set aside his conviction after the probationary period had expired.
Sumner also maintains that federal courts have "the inherent power, under equitable principles, to order expungement of criminal records." We disagree. The power of federal courts may not be expanded by judicial decree. See Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Vongsvirates v. Rushmore Loan Mgmt. Servs.
...... A. Federal Question Jurisdiction The complaint states that federal question jurisdiction exists in this action. Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and their power to adjudicate is limited to that granted by Congress. U.S. v. Sumner , 226 F.3d 1005, 1009 (9th Cir. 2000). Pursuant to 28 U.S. C. § 1331, federal courts have original jurisdiction over "all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. "A case 'arises under' federal law either where federal law creates the cause of action or ......
-
Western Shoshone Nat. Council v. U.S., No. 5-05-0290-PMP LRL.
....... II. DISCUSSION . Federal district courts are courts of limited jurisdiction, and a party seeking to invoke this Court's jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing jurisdiction. See U.S. v. Sumner, 226 F.3d 1005, 1010 (9th Cir.2000); State of Idaho ex rel. Trombley v. U.S. Dep't of Army, Corps of Eng'rs, 666 F.2d 444, 446 (9th Cir.1982). Additionally, federal district courts lack jurisdiction over suits against the United States unless the United States has expressly and unequivocally ......
-
U.S. v. Marks
......at 377, 114 S.Ct. 1673. The burden of establishing federal jurisdiction is on the party invoking federal jurisdiction. See DaimlerChrysler v. Cuno, 547 U.S. 332, 342, 126 S.Ct. 1854, 164 L.Ed.2d 589 (2006); United States v. Sumner, 226 F.3d 1005, 1010 (9th Cir.2000). . We review de novo a district court's assumption of jurisdiction. United States v. Bennett, 147 F.3d 912, 913(9th Cir.1998); see United States v. Anderson, 472 F.3d 662, 666 (9th Cir.2006) ("Jurisdictional issues are reviewed de novo[.]"). ......
-
U.S. v. Hovsepian
......INS, 462 F.2d 1030, 1032 (1st Cir.1972). . 7. Alternatively, Yacoubian argues that apart from the FYCA, the district court acted properly as part of its "inherent authority." However, we squarely rejected such contention in United States v. Sumner, 226 F.3d 1005, 1010 (9th Cir.2000). . 8. The statute does not categorically bar all claims concerning deportation. Rather, the jurisdictional bar is limited to claims relating to the three types of actions listed in the statute, i.e., the decision to commence proceedings, to adjudicate cases, ......
-
Ancillary Enforcement Jurisdiction: the Misinterpretation of Kokkonen and Expungement Petitions
...v. Wahi, 850 F.3d 296, 302-03 (7th Cir. 2017); United States v. Coloian, 480 F.3d 47, 50-52 (1st Cir. 2007); United States v. Sumner, 226 F.3d 1005, 1014-15 (9th Cir. 2000). 23. See Valerie Schneider, The Prison to Homelessness Pipeline: Criminal Record Checks, Race, and Disparate Impact, 9......
-
Criminal law - First Circuit holds federal courts lack jurisdiction to expunge criminal records on equitable grounds.
...251 F.3d 477, 478 (3d Cir. 2001) (ruling federal courts lack inherent power to hear motions for expungement); United States v. Sumner, 226 F.3d 1005, 1014 (9th Cir. 2000) (noting district courts' ancillary jurisdiction limited to expunging record of unlawful arrest); see also 8A FED. PROC.,......