Woodson v. Attorney General

• Decision Date: 23 April 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-5303,91-5303
• Citation: 990 F.2d 1344
• Parties: Helen D. WOODSON, Appellee, v. ATTORNEY GENERAL, et al., Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 1344

990 F.2d 1344

301 U.S.App.D.C. 74

Helen D. WOODSON, Appellee, v. ATTORNEY GENERAL, et al., Appellants.

No. 91-5303.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued March 15, 1993.

Decided April 23, 1993.

David B. Orbuch, Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom Jay B. Stephens, U.S. Atty. at the time the brief was filed, John D. Bates, and R. Craig Lawrence, Asst. U.S. Attys., Washington, DC, were on the brief, for appellants.

Helen D. Woodson pro se.

Roger D. Williams (appointed by this court), with whom Edward J. Grenier, Jr., Washington, DC, was on the brief, for amicus curiae in favor of appellee's position.

Before: HARRY T. EDWARDS, SENTELLE and KAREN LeCRAFT HENDERSON, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge HARRY T. EDWARDS.

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge:

The federal commutation statutes establish a scheme for the reduction of prisoners' jail terms based on accumulated "good time" credits. An eligible prisoner's sentence is reduced by ten days for each month of incarceration that the prisoner serves without bad behavior; the accumulation of these good time credits results in prisoners' gaining early release from prison and reductions of up to 180 days in the maximum terms of their sentences. 18 U.S.C. §§ 4161-4166 (repealed 1987). ¹

In this case, the appellee, Helen Woodson, an inmate in the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna, Florida, petitioned the Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") to "waive" her good time credits so that she could remain in prison for the full term of her twelve-year sentence. After the BOP denied her request, Woodson filed for declaratory relief in the District Court. The District Court held that Woodson had a right, secured by the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to waive any accumulated good time credits. Woodson v. United States Dep't of Justice, 770 F.Supp. 25, 26-27 (D.D.C.1991). The Government now appeals from this judgment, claiming that, under the federal commutation statutes, prisoners have no right to "waive" good time credits or to remain in prison beyond a term that has been reduced for good behavior. We agree. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the District Court.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1985, Helen Woodson was sentenced to serve twelve years in prison after she was convicted on four counts of destruction of government property at the site of a Minuteman II ICBM silo. ² Since her term in prison began, Woodson has forfeited some of her good time credits because of "institutional sanctions" imposed for various disobedient activities, including attempted and successful escapes, arson, destruction of government property, inciting to riot, and lock tampering. Complaint for Declaratory Judgment, Order, and Other Appropriate Relief at 2, reprinted in Brief for Appellee, Woodson v. Attorney Gen., et al., No. 91-5303 (D.C.Cir.1993), Appendix. Woodson is concerned, however, that if she accumulates good time credits, she will be released from prison prior to the expiration of her maximum sentence. She claims that acceptance of good time credits and an early release from prison would violate her religious belief that "she should, so far as possible, separate herself from the secular system, neither accepting its benefits nor entering into agreements with it." Brief for Appellee at 39.

In 1990, Woodson formally requested permission from the BOP to waive her good time credits. The BOP denied her request, stating that the statutes gave it "no option other than [to] award a deduction." Request for Administrative Remedy, reprinted in Brief for Appellee, Appendix. Woodson next filed a pro se complaint in the District Court, seeking a declaratory judgment that she had no "duty" to accept her good time credits under 18 U.S.C. § 4161, and an order permitting her to waive any credits to which she was entitled. Complaint, supra, at 3. The BOP moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction, arguing that Woodson's complaint sounded in habeas corpus and that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over Woodson's custodian in Florida. The District Court denied the BOP's motion, holding that a habeas petition is appropriate only when an individual challenges the legality of her detention. Woodson v. United States Dep't of Justice, No. 91-47, mem. op. at 2 (D.D.C. Apr. 19, 1991). Subsequently, the BOP moved to dismiss Woodson's complaint on the grounds that, as a matter of law, Woodson had no right to waive her accrued good time credits. Construing Woodson's response as a cross-motion for summary judgment, the District Court denied the BOP's motion and granted Woodson's cross-motion, holding that Woodson had a right, protected by the Ninth Amendment, to waive her statutory good time credits. Woodson v. United States Dep't of Justice _ 770 F.Supp. 25, 26-27 & n. 1 (D.D.C.1991).

The District Court's holding rests on a premise that the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the " 'right' to refuse privileges or rights." Id. at 27. The District Court first noted that the commutation statutes give a federal prisoner the "right, or entitlement" to use her accrued good time credits to achieve an early release from prison. Id. at 26. Next, the District Court reasoned that one cannot be "obligated to exercise a right or privilege," because "compelling one to accept a right or privilege nullifies free will and the power to choose--the raison d'etre of rights and privileges." Id. at 27. Finally, the District Court concluded that the " 'right' to refuse privileges or rights" is an unenumerated right implicitly protected by the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution. See id. Accordingly, the District Court held that Woodson had a constitutionally protected right to waive her good time credits. The District Court also rejected the BOP's arguments that a prisoner has no right to prolong her confinement at governmental expense, and that the BOP's ability to manage the prisons would be impaired if Woodson were allowed to waive her good time credits. Id. at 27-28.

The BOP has appealed the District Court's decision, which we now reverse.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Government's Claim Regarding Habeas Corpus

On appeal, the BOP renewed its argument that Woodson should have brought her claim as a petition for habeas corpus because her complaint implicates the duration and conditions of her confinement. This assertion is meritless. The defining purpose of a petition for habeas corpus is to "safeguard the individual against unlawful custody" by "test[ing] the lawfulness of the government's asserted right to detain an individual." Chatman-Bey v. Thornburgh, 864 F.2d 804, 806, 809 (D.C.Cir.1988) (en banc). Woodson does not seek protection against unlawful custody; instead, she seeks to prevent an early release from custody. Thus, the purpose of her suit before the District Court is fundamentally opposed to the purpose of a petition for habeas corpus.

B. The Merits

Turning to the merits of the case, we first examine the statutory basis for the purported "right" that Woodson claims. Section 4161 of the federal commutation statutes provides that an otherwise eligible prisoner "shall be entitled to a deduction from the term of his sentence" for ten days each month, if the prisoner has "faithfully observed all the rules and has not been subjected to punishment." 18 U.S.C. § 4161. A prisoner who has accumulated good time credits is also entitled to an early release from prison under section 4163, which provides that "a prisoner shall be released at the expiration of his term of sentence less the time deducted for good conduct." 18 U.S.C. § 4163. A prisoner on release for good time is subject to all the conditions of parole until 180 days before the expiration of her maximum sentence. At that time, the release becomes unconditional and the prisoner effectively receives a 180-day reduction in the maximum term of the sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 4164; see Birch v. Anderson, 358 F.2d 520, 523 (D.C.Cir.1965) (holding that prisoners released on good time credits cease to be subject to the jurisdiction of the parole board 180 days before the expiration of their maximum sentence). The commutation scheme also provides that prisoners forfeit "all or any part of" their earned good time credits if they "commit[ ] any offense or violate[ ] the rules of the institution." 18 U.S.C. § 4165.

Woodson focuses on the relationship between sections 4161 and 4163 to support her argument that she has a right to waive her good time credits. Woodson admits that, pursuant to section 4163, a prisoner has no choice but to be released if she has accumulated good time credits. See18 U.S.C. § 4163 (providing that a prisoner "shall be released at the expiration of his term of sentence less the time deducted for good conduct") (emphasis added). She asserts, however, that the phrasing of section 4161, which provides that a prisoner "shall be entitled to a deduction from the term of his sentence," permits the inference that a prisoner may waive her entitlement to good time credits. 18 U.S.C. § 4161 (emphasis added). Thus, according to Woodson, the statutory scheme gives the prisoner the discretion to accept or to waive the credits to which she is entitled, but gives her no control over her release if she chooses to allow her good time credits to accumulate.

We reject this reading of the statutes. Woodson's proposed interpretation presumes that the commutation scheme was intended to provide well-behaved prisoners with an option to stay in prison for the maximum length of their sentences. However, the plain language of section 4163 indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it does not make sense that Congress would have provided a prisoner with a choice whether to accept good time credits, but with no choice whether to waive her actual release based on those good time credits. If Congress had intended for prisoners to have the option to serve their maximum sentences...