Estes v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, CIV.A. 03-0070-CB-L.

• Decision Date: 24 July 2003
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 03-0070-CB-L.,CIV.A. 03-0070-CB-L.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama
• Parties: April Mizell ESTES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, Harley G. Lappin,<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL> Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, sued in his official capacity, R.E. Holt, Regional Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons and R.E. Holt, Community Corrections Manager, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the United States of America, Defendants.

273 F.Supp.2d 1301

April Mizell ESTES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, Harley G. Lappin,¹ Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, sued in his official capacity, R.E. Holt, Regional Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons and R.E. Holt, Community Corrections Manager, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the United States of America, Defendants.

No. CIV.A. 03-0070-CB-L.

United States District Court, S.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

July 24, 2003.

Charles Baer, U.S. Attorney's Office, Mobile, AL, for Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Thomas M. Haas, Mobile, AL, for Scotty Summers.

Willie J. Huntley, Jr., Adero Soyini Jernigan, Huntley Law Firm, Mobile, AL, for Lettice Lelani Suggs.

W. A. Kimbrough, Turner, Onderdonk, Kimbrough & Howell, P.A., Mobile, AL, for Amanda Powell.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BUTLER, District Judge.

This action involves a challenge to a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy regarding incarceration of federal prisoners in Community Corrections Centers (CCC's). At issue is whether the BOP has violated either the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) or the plaintiffs' constitutional rights by concluding that, as a matter of law, the BOP cannot allow a federal prisoner to serve a term of imprisonment in a CCC. Because the Court concludes that the BOP's policy is invalid under the APA, it does not reach the constitutional issues.

I. Facts

Each of the plaintiffs has been convicted in this Court of a Federal crime and each has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of less than one year.² In each case, the judge recommended at sentencing (as reflected in the written judgment) that the BOP designate the local Community Corrections Center in Spanish Fort, Alabama as the place where the plaintiff would serve all or part of his or her term of imprisonment. While plaintiffs were either awaiting designation by the BOP or, in the case of Estes, awaiting the reporting date after designation to a CCC,³ the BOP announced a change in its policy regarding the designation of federal prisoners to CCC's.⁴

By memorandum issued on December 20, 2002, the BOP's then-director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer ("the director") informed federal judges that federal inmates could no longer be designated to serve their terms of imprisonment in CCC's. The decision was based on a memorandum opinion issued by the Attorney General's Office of Legal Counsel ("OLC"), dated December 13, 2002, which concluded that the BOP's longstanding practice of committing inmates to CCC's, a practice that had been followed for decades,⁵ violated the law. The OLC's memo concluded that the statutory provision the BOP had, for the past 15 years, interpreted as giving the agency discretion to designate inmates to serve their terms in CCC's actually forbade that practice. Following the OLC's new interpretation, the director concluded that henceforth only inmates with less than 10 percent of their term imprisonment remaining could be confined in CCC's.⁶

As a result of the BOP's change in policy, each of the plaintiffs in this case was denied designation to a CCC.

The gist of the OLC's opinion is as follows:

Your office has informed us that when a federal offender whom the Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") deems to be low-risk and nonviolent receives a short sentence of imprisonment, BOP often places that offender in a community corrections center, halfway house, or other form of "community confinement," rather than in prison. Your office has asked us to advise you whether BOP has general authority, either upon the recommendation of the sentencing judge or otherwise, to place such an offender directly in community confinement at the outset of his sentence or to transfer him from prison to community confinement during the course of his sentence.

We conclude below that BOP has no such general authority. As we explain, BOP's statutory authority to implement sentences of imprisonment must be construed, wherever possible, to comport with the legal requirements that govern the federal courts' sentencing order, and BOP lacks clear general statutory authority to place in community confinement an offender who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. BOP's practice is therefore unlawful.

Memorandum Opinion dated December 13, 2002, M. Edward Whelan III, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel. (Ex. to United States Supp. to Mtn. to Dismiss, Doc. 20.)

Because the BOP denied CCC placement to plaintiffs based on its new policy that designation to a CCC was not within its discretion, plaintiffs filed the instant action seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent enforcement of the new policy. Plaintiffs assert that they are entitled to a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 because the BOP has, by adopting the current policy regarding CCC placement, violated both their constitutional rights and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §§ 701 et seq. In addition, plaintiffs assert claims directly under the APA.

II. Procedural Background

A. The Parties

Because of events that have occurred during the course of these proceedings, it is necessary to identify those who are currently parties to this action. This original complaint was filed by April Mizell Estes, Antonio Rico Madden and Scotty Summers, who were and are plaintiffs. The complaint named as defendants the Federal Bureau of Prisons, its former director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer and R.E. Holt, in his capacities as Regional Director and Community Corrections Manager. Shortly thereafter, a motion to intervene as plaintiff was filed by Lettice Lelani Suggs and was granted without objection. Ms. Suggs has died, however, during the pendency of this action.⁷ Therefore, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 25(a)(2), her claims are abated.⁸ Recently, a motion to intervene as plaintiff was filed by Amanda Powell. Because it appears that Powell's claims are identical to those asserted by the plaintiffs, Powell's motion to intervene (doc. 23) is GRANTED.

In their motion to dismiss, defendants asserted that the suit was, in fact, one against United States and that the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the individual defendants were due to be dismissed on sovereign immunity grounds. Without conceding that the dismissal of other defendants was appropriate, the plaintiffs amended the complaint to add the United States as a defendant. (Docs. 11 & 12.) In a reply brief, the defendants have conceded that the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, in his official capacity, is a proper defendant to this action. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 25(d)(1), Harley G. Lappin, the current Director of the Bureau of Prisons is due to be substituted as defendant in place of former Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer.⁹ In fact, because this is an action for prospective injunctive relief brought under the APA, sovereign immunity has been waived with respect to any agency official and the agency itself. See 5 U.S.C. § 702. Therefore, both R.E. Holt, who is sued in his official capacities as the Southeast Regional Director and Community Corrections Manager, and the Bureau of Prisons are proper defendants.

B. Causes of Action

The original complaint sets forth seven claims. Counts One through Three are constitutional claims asserted under the general habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, for violation of Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause (Count One), violation of the Fifth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause (Count Two), and violation of the Constitution's Ex Post Facto Clause (Count Three). Counts Four through Six are claims under the APA which allege that the new policy "is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and otherwise not in accordance with the law" in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A) (Count Four), that the new policy exceeds the BOP's statutory jurisdiction and authorization and is "short of statutory right" in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(C) (Count Five) and that the new rule was enacted "without observance of procedure required by law" in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(D). In Count Seven plaintiffs assert a claim for equitable relief, alleging that "[d]efendants are equitably estopped from implementing the new rule because of the violations set forth in Counts One through Six herein." Plaintiffs amended their complaint to add a claim based on "violation of the separation of powers doctrine as articulated in United States v. Klein, 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 128, 20 L.Ed. 519 (1871)" (Count Eight). The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over these claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 2241.

After the complaint was amended to add Count Eight, plaintiff Antonio Rico Madden filed a separate amendment to the complaint attempting to set forth a claim, applicable only to him, for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. (Doc. 13.) "A party may amend the party's pleading once as a matter of course at any time before a responsive pleading is filed.... Otherwise a party may amend only by leave of court or by written consent of the adverse party." Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a) (emphasis added). The complaint had already been amended by all plaintiffs when Madden attempted to amend without leave of court or consent of the defendants. Therefore, Madden's "Amendment to Complaint" is hereby STRICKEN.

C. Submission of Case on Merits

On May 12, 2003, the Court entered an order consolidating the motion for preliminary injunction with the trial on the merits pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 65(a)(2). In that order, the Court further informed the parties of its intention to take the case under submission without an evidentiary hearing because there appeared to be no factual disputes to be resolved. The parties were given an opportunity to object to the Court's proposed method for resolving this dispute, and no party has objected. The parties were also given time to supplement the briefs previously filed with additional legal authority, which they have done. Accordingly, this action is ripe for decision.

III. Legal Conclusions

The BOP's change...