Wilson v. Terhune

• Decision Date: 06 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-17448.,01-17448.
• Citation: 319 F.3d 477
• Parties: Stephen Leslie WILSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. C.A. TERHUNE; Robert Ayers, Warden, Respondents-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

319 F.3d 477

Stephen Leslie WILSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. C.A. TERHUNE; Robert Ayers, Warden, Respondents-Appellees.

No. 01-17448.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted October 11, 2002.

Filed February 6, 2003.

Allison Claire, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Sacramento, CA, for the petitioner-appellant.

James E. Flynn, Deputy Attorney General, Sacramento, CA, for the respondents-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California; Lawrence K. Karlton, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV 98-1416 LKK/ JEM.

Before: TASHIMA, THOMAS, and PAEZ, Circuit Judges.

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge.

Stephen Leslie Wilson, a California state prisoner, appeals the judgment of the district court, denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Wilson contends that the district court erred in denying his petition as moot. The court held that there is not an irrebuttable presumption of collateral consequences to prison disciplinary proceedings and that the collateral consequences Wilson asserts are either the result of his escape or too speculative to warrant relief. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § § 1291 and 2253, and we affirm.

BACKGROUND

In November 1982, Wilson entered a guilty plea to first degree murder and was sentenced to a term of 25 years to life imprisonment. Wilson escaped from Folsom State Prison in 1984 and was apprehended in London, England, in April 1992. In October 1992, Wilson was extradited to the United States pursuant to the Extradition Treaty between the United States and Great Britain, June 8, 1972-Oct. 21, 1976, U.K.-U.S., 28 U.S.T. 227.

Wilson was then returned to Folsom and was placed in administrative segregation for seven-and-one-half months because he was considered a "threat to the safety and security of the institution." At that time, his classification score was 90, the same as it had been when he escaped. Wilson was held in administrative segregation for this length of time because his escape offense constituted a rules violation for which a prison disciplinary hearing was required. Wilson, however, had the hearing postponed while awaiting a decision by the Sacramento County District Attorney's office regarding whether to prosecute him on escape charges. On March 11, 1993, Wilson withdrew his request to postpone the hearing.

On April 1, 1993, the district attorney requested a waiver of the rule of speciality under the Extradition Treaty in order to prosecute Wilson on escape charges.¹ The United Kingdom refused to grant a waiver, stating that escape was not an extraditable offense. Consequently, the district attorney dismissed the escape charges. Prison officials then decided to pursue disciplinary proceedings for the escape.

A hearing was held on the disciplinary charges associated with Wilson's escape. Wilson did not deny that he escaped, but he denied the charges on the ground that the Extradition Treaty did not permit him to be charged and disciplined for the escape. Wilson was found guilty and was assessed 150 days loss of good-time credits, 90 days loss of privileges, and 10 days confined-to-quarters status with credit for time served. His classification score was also increased to 102. The loss of 150 days of good-time credit was later eliminated.

In 1994, Wilson applied for permission to marry. The marriage was permitted but family visits were denied "based on escape/security concerns."² The regulation governing family visits was subsequently amended to prohibit family visits for several categories of inmates, including those who, like Wilson, are designated Close A or Close B custody or are sentenced to life without a parole date established by the Board of Prison Terms. Cal. Code Regs. tit. 15, § 3174(e)(2). Wilson was allowed contact visits after his return. In 1998, he was transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison after a package mailed to him was found to contain escape paraphernalia.

Wilson filed a habeas petition in federal district court after his habeas petitions were denied in state court. The magistrate judge found that all the punishment imposed as a result of the disciplinary action had been either withdrawn or completed at the time of Wilson's petition. The magistrate judge further reasoned that the other consequences alleged by Wilson—the denial of good-time credits and family or conjugal visits, and the transfer to Pelican Bay State Prison— were the result of the fact of Wilson's escape, not of the disciplinary conviction. Because the punishment was completed, the magistrate judge concluded that Wilson's petition was moot and recommended that the petition be denied and the action dismissed on that ground.

In his objections to the magistrate judge's findings and recommendations, Wilson argued that there is an irrebuttable presumption that habeas petitioners suffer collateral consequences sufficient to prevent mootness, citing Chacon v. Wood, 36 F.3d 1459 (9th Cir.1994). The district court, however, distinguished Chacon on the basis that Chacon held that there are always collateral consequences to a conviction, but that this was not necessarily true for prison disciplinary proceedings. The court further concluded that the collateral consequences asserted by Wilson were "either the result of the fact of escape or too speculative to justify relief." The court therefore denied the petition. Wilson timely appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The district court's denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus is subject to de novo review. Park v. California, 202 F.3d 1146, 1149 (9th Cir.2000). The district court's factual findings are reviewed for clear error. Id.

DISCUSSION

A case becomes moot when "it no longer present[s] a case or controversy under Article III, § 2, of the Constitution." Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7, 118 S.Ct. 978, 140 L.Ed.2d 43 (1998). In order to satisfy the case-or-controversy requirement, the parties must have a personal stake in the outcome of the suit throughout "all stages of federal judicial proceedings." United States v. Verdin, 243 F.3d 1174, 1177 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 878, 122 S.Ct. 178, 151 L.Ed.2d 123 (2001). "A habeas petition challenging the underlying conviction is never moot simply because, subsequent to its filing, the petitioner has been released from custody." Chacon, 36 F.3d at 1463. Some collateral consequence of the conviction must exist, however, in order for the suit to be maintained. Spencer, 523 U.S. at 7, 118 S.Ct. 978.

Wilson contends that we have abolished the mootness doctrine in habeas cases, citing Chacon. In Chacon, we stated that "`collateral consequences flow from any criminal conviction'" because, "[o]nce convicted one remains forever subject to the prospect of harsher punishment for a subsequent offense as a result of federal and state laws that either already have been or may eventually be passed." Chacon, 36 F.3d at 1463 (quoting Hirabayashi v. United States, 828 F.2d 591, 606 (9th Cir. 1987)). We therefore held that the petitioner's challenge to his conviction was not rendered moot by his release from custody. Id.

Chacon, however, is inapposite because Wilson is not challenging his conviction but a prison disciplinary proceeding. Wilson contends that (1) the presumption of collateral consequences applies to prison disciplinary convictions, and (2) if not, he has alleged collateral consequences sufficient to meet the case-or-controversy requirement. We hold that the presumption of collateral consequences does not apply to prison disciplinary proceedings. We further conclude that Wilson has not alleged collateral consequences sufficient to avoid dismissal on the ground of mootness. We, therefore, affirm the district court.

I. Presumption of Collateral Consequences

The Supreme Court has held that the presumption of collateral consequences does not apply to the revocation of parole. Spencer, 523 U.S. at 12-14, 118 S.Ct. 978. Wilson argues that the presumption of collateral consequences should, however, apply to prison disciplinary proceedings because institutional consequences of the rules violation charge (a "115"³) are not only possible, but inevitable. He asserts that the 115 will affect "classification, institutional and housing assignments, and privileges," and that a serious rules violation may result in a delay or denial of parole. The consequences cited by Wilson are not sufficient to justify applying the presumption to disciplinary proceedings.

The Supreme Court has distinguished between "substantial civil penalties" that result from a criminal conviction, such as the inability to engage in certain businesses, to serve as an official of a labor union, to vote in state elections, and to serve as a juror, and "non-statutory consequences" that "result from a finding that an individual has violated parole," such as the effect on employment prospects or the sentence imposed in future criminal proceedings. Lane v. Williams, 455 U.S. 624, 632, 102 S.Ct. 1322, 71 L.Ed.2d 508 (1982); see also Spencer, 523 U.S. at 12-13, 118 S.Ct. 978 (quoting Lane). The latter consequences are "discretionary decisions" that "are not governed by the mere presence or absence of a recorded violation," but "are more directly influenced by[] the underlying conduct that formed the basis for the parole violation." Lane, 455 U.S. at 632-33, 102 S.Ct. 1322.

Similarly here, the consequences placed on Wilson are discretionary decisions that are more likely to be influenced by the underlying conduct of his escape, which he does not deny, rather than by the disciplinary proceeding for the escape. That is, Wilson would be considered a security threat because he has previously escaped, not merely because the escape was recorded on a 115.

Wilson argues that the likelihood of delayed or denied parole is analogous to the possibility of a future enhanced sentence, citing Chacon, or the possibility of...