Fletcher v. District of ColumbiaFletcher v. District of Columbia
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff is a District of Columbia Code offender serving a parole revocation sentence imposed by the United States Parole Commission (“Commission”). He alleges that the Commission’s application of its reparole guidelines violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution. Plaintiffs claims are brought pursuant to
Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. Based on the parties’ filings and the applicable law, the Court concludes that the Commission is not subject to liability in this case because the United States has not waived sovereign immunity. Moreover, plaintiffs claims for money damages under
Bivens
against Commissioners in their personal capacities are barred by absolute or qualified immunity. The Court thus concludes that the plaintiff can only proceed against the present Commissioners in their official capacities on the claim under
BACKGROUND
This matter has a lengthy history, including three decisions by the D.C. Circuit. The relevant background is drawn from the records before this court and, where appropriate, those earlier decisions.
On March 15, 1980, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, plaintiff was sentenced to a term of 12 to 36 years imprisonment for rape. Respondent’s Opposition to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (“Resp.Opp.”), Exh. A. 2 Plaintiff was released on parole by the District of Columbia Board of Parole (“D.C.Board”) on October 23, 1990, and ordered to remain under parole supervision until August 22, 2014. Id. Exh. B.
On August 12, 1994, plaintiff was arrested in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and charged with assault with intent to kill and use of a firearm in a crime of violence.
Id.
Exh. C. He pleaded guilty to these charges and received a ten-year sentence, which was later reduced to a five-year term.
Id.
Exh. D & Exh. F. On May 10, 1995, the D.C. Board issued a warrant for plaintiffs arrest based on this new criminal conduct and administrative parole violations resulting from his arrest and con
On August 29, 1998, plaintiff was arrested on the D.C. Board’s parole violation warrant.
Id.
Exh. G. Following a parole revocation hearing in October 1998, the D.C. Board revoked plaintiffs parole and ordered that he be considered for reparole by August 29, 2000.
Id.
Exh. H. After parole authority over D.C.Code offenders was transferred from the D.C. Board to the Commission,
see
Plaintiff initiated this action
prose.
3
He contended that the application of the Commission’s reparole guidelines instead of the D.C. Board guidelines in effect at the time of his original offense increased his length of incarceration and violated the Ex Post Facto Clause. Complaint (“Compl.”) at 6-8. The case was brought pursuant to
On July 2, 2002, the Court dismissed plaintiffs complaint without prejudice on the ground that his damages claim was precluded by
Heck v. Humphrey,
Plaintiff appealed, and in
Fletcher v. Dist. of Columbia,
Plaintiff filed a petition for rehearing, relying on
Garner v. Jones,
Meanwhile, the dismissal of plaintiffs habeas petition was also reviewed by the court of appeals, which remanded that case with the following explanation:
Fletcher has made out a prima facie case that his rights under the Ex Post Facto Clause have been violated, because he is a D.C.Code offender whose parole was revoked based on an offense that was not a D.C.Code offense. Under these circumstances, the facial distinctions between the Board’s regulations and the federal regulations that replaced them, specifically the fact that the new federal regulations, unlike the regulations they replaced, do not take post-incarceration behavior into account, is sufficient to warrant factual development on his habeas petition. Under Garner and Fletcher II, Fletcher is entitled to a searching comparison of the old and new reparole regimes in order to determine whether the U.S. Parole Commission’s application of the federal reparole regulations at Fletcher’s repa-róle hearing in 2000 created a significant risk that he will be subjected to a lengthier incarceration than he would have been if the Commission had adhered to the rules and practices of the D.C. Board.
Fletcher v. Reilly,
DISCUSSION
Defendants move to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, lack of personal jurisdiction over the individual defendants, improper venue, and for failure to state a claim, all pursuant to
I.
Defendants contend that the doctrine of sovereign immunity bars plaintiffs claim under
The United States is immune from suit absent its explicit consent to be sued.
Here, plaintiff concedes that he only seeks prospective declaratory and in-junctive relief under
In
Settles,
the D.C. Circuit addressed whether the Commission was subject to
Plaintiff argues that in
Fletcher I,
the court “implicitly rejected” the Commission’s defenses, including the assertion of sovereign immunity. Pl.’s Opp. to Mot. to Dismiss, p. 5. That claim is without merit. There is not even a hint or suggestion in
Fletcher I
that sovereign immunity was an issue raised by the Commission and rejected by the Court. And even if that defense was not raised by the Commission, it could still be considered here because it is a jurisdictional issue and may be raised at any time.
Settles,
Nothing in our decision in Fletcher I, which held that in regard to D.C.Code offenders the Commission acts pursuant to an “Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia,” requires the conclusion that when the Commission acts pursuant to the Revitalization Act, it loses its character as a federal agency and becomes for purposes of§ 1983 a mere organ of theDistrict of Columbia, which, as a municipality, enjoys no sovereign immunity.
Settles,
Having determined that sovereign immunity shields the Commission from money damages under
As recognized in
Fletcher I,
however, plaintiff can proceed against the individual members of the Commission in their official capacities for injunctive relief because they were acting under a federal law applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia.
Fletcher I,
Although conceding that he cannot recover money damages under
[a] person suffering legal wrong because of agency action, or adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of a relevant statute, is entitled to individual review thereof. An action in a court of the United States seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States or that the United States is an indispensable party.
Under the APA, however, an individual is only entitled to judicial review of a “final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in court.”
Parole decisions by the Commission are committed to the agency’s discretion and are thus exempt from review under the APA.
II. Bivens Claim
Plaintiff brings a Bivens claim for money damages against the Commissioners in their personal capacities for the promulgation of the federal reparole guidelines, which abrogated the D.C. guidelines, and the application of those guidelines in the Commission’s decision on plaintiffs repa-róle. The Commissioners assert that they are entitled to absolute immunity for the reparole decision or, at a minimum, qualified immunity. 11
In
Bivens,
the Supreme Court recognized an action for money damages against a federal officer in his or her individual capacity who abuses his or her constitutional authority.
Corr. Servs. Corp. v. Malesko,
To prevail in a
Bivens
action, a plaintiff must “demonstrate an injury consequent upon the violation” of his constitutional rights by federal employees.
Bivens,
A. Absolute Immunity
The Commissioners assert that they are absolutely immune from suit based on their reparole decision because their duties as Commissioners are quasi-judicial in nature. Where absolute immunity applies, an official is protected from all suits challenging conduct within the scope of the immunity.
Gray v. Poole,
Officials performing judicial functions have absolute immunity from civil liability based on their judicial actions.
Forrester v. White,
Several circuits have held that quasi-judicial absolute immunity applies to parole officers or members of a parole board.
See Anderson v. Georgia State Pardons & Parole Bd.,
The daily task of both judges and parole board officials is the adjudication of specific cases or controversies. Their duty is often the same: to render impartial decisions in cases and controversies that excite strong feelings because the litigant’s liberty is at stake. They face the same risk of constant unfounded suits by those disappointed by the parole board’s decisions.... Just as the decision-making process of judges must be kept free from fear, so must that of parole board officials.
Sellars v. Procunier,
Plaintiff contends that the Commissioners are not entitled to quasi-judicial immunity because he is challenging the promulgation of new parole guidelines, which is an administrative or policy-making function. It is true that the Supreme Court has rejected absolute immunity for judges acting in an administrative capacity.
See Forrester,
B. Qualified Immunity
The individual Commissioners also move to dismiss the
Bivens
claims against them in their personal capacities based on qualified immunity. “[Gjovernment officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages” if “their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”
Harlow v. Fitzgerald,
But even assuming such a violation, in order to defeat a qualified immunity defense the constitutional right must be clearly established, i.e., the “relevant, dis-positive inquiry in determining whether a right is clearly established is whether it would be clear to a reasonable officer that his conduct was unlawful in the situation he confronted.”
Saucier,
The constitutional right raised here is whether the Ex Post Facto Clause was violated when the Commission determined plaintiffs “parole eligibility date on the basis of parole regulations and guidelines promulgated after the crime for which he was incarcerated.”
Fletcher I,
Hence, the second step of the qualified immunity test — whether the constitutional right was clearly established — must be reached here. Plaintiffs claim is based primarily on the Supreme Court’s decision in Garner, which was decided in March 2000, four months prior to the Commission’s finalizing of its reparole guidelines and nine months before the Commission’s application of those guidelines and final notice of action in plaintiffs case. To determine whether the Commissioners violated clearly established law, then, the Court must first examine what was actually decided in Garner.
The precise question before the
Garner
Court was “whether the retroactive application of a Georgia law permitting the extension of intervals between parole considerations violates the
Ex Post Facto
Clause.”
Garner,
This is hardly the material of which the violation of a “clearly established” constitutional right is made. To
The individual defendants are clearly entitled to qualified immunity here. Whether plaintiffs constitutional rights were violated at his reparole hearing is the very issue in this case, and has been the subject of a year of extensive discovery. Assuming that such a violation occurred, defendants were certainly not on notice that their conduct was unlawful. There has been no decision of the Supreme Court or the courts in this district holding that the application of the Commission’s repa-róle guidelines to D.C.Code offenders is an ex post facto violation. 12 Accordingly, the individual Commissioners did not violate clearly established law at plaintiffs repa-róle hearing in 2000. Instead, plaintiff simply has a viable claim warranting exploration.
The individual commissioners in their personal capacities are therefore entitled to qualified immunity on plaintiffs
Bivens
claims. Qualified immunity only applies to claims for money damages and does not extend to claims for injunctive or declaratory relief.
Meredith v. Fed. Mine Safety and Health Review Comm’n,
III. Personal Jurisdiction
Plaintiff bears the burden of establishing personal jurisdiction over each defendant.
13
Atlantigas Corp. v. Nisource, Inc.,
As one of the bases for personal jurisdiction over the individual Commissioners here, plaintiff cites
Plaintiff has failed to show that defendant Jeffers was or is domiciled in the District. Even if she were, it would not establish jurisdiction over the other individual defendants. As noted above, plaintiff cannot use one defendant’s possible ties to the forum and apply them to another defendant. Plaintiff therefore has not established personal jurisdiction based on residence in the District.
Indeed, none of the individually-named defendants appears to reside in the District of Columbia. Moreover, the principal office of the Commission is located in Maryland.
Terry v. U.S. Parole Comm’n,
Plaintiff claims the existence of personal jurisdiction based on defendants’ “transacting any business in the District of Columbia.”
Several factors lead the Court to conclude that defendants are amenable to suit in this district. The Parole Commission supervises D.C. prisoners and parolees. Parole violation warrants are often requested from parole officers working in the District. Arrested parole violations are often incarcerated at the D.C. Jail awaiting revocation hearings. Supervision over D.C.Code offenders was granted to the Commission under D.C. law.
See Fletcher I,
IV. Venue
Defendants also move to dismiss the complaint based on improper venue. In ruling on such a motion, the Court must accept all well-pleaded factual allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.
Darby v. U.S. Dep’t of Energy,
Venue for plaintiffs claims against the defendants in their individual capacities is determined under
Defendants contend that venue is improper in this district because none of the defendants resides in the District of Columbia and none of the events relevant to this case occurred here. This argument lacks merit. At issue is the application of the Commission’s guidelines instead of the D.C. parole guidelines at plaintiffs repa-róle hearing. That hearing occurred at the Lorton Correctional Facility in Virginia, which was considered to be a District of Columbia penal institution.
See Stokes v. U.S. Parole Comm’n,
The venue statute does not require a plaintiff to establish that every event that supports his claim occurred in the chosen forum.
Modaressi,
V. Statute of Limitations
Finally, the individual defendants contend that plaintiffs
The District of Columbia’s three-year statute of limitations applies to plaintiffs claims under
Assuming defendants’ argument is correct, that the filing date of the amended complaint is the pertinent one, the case would still not be subject to dismissal. In determining the state limitations period in a
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that the
ORDER
In accordance with the Memorandum Opinion issued this 26th day of March, 2007, it is hereby
ORDERED that defendants’ motions to dismiss [47][57][67] are GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, and the United States Parole Commission is hereby DISMISSED; it is further
ORDERED that the motion to dismiss plaintiffs claims under
ORDERED that plaintiffs claims for monetary relief against all defendants are DISMISSED.
Notes
. Plaintiff has a related habeas corpus action before the Court in Civil Action No. 01-2058. As noted in the D.C. Circuit's decision remanding that case for further proceedings, "Fletcher now contends that it has always been his intention to pursue his ex post facto claim in a single proceeding.”
Fletcher v. Reilly,
. This factual background is based on the exhibits attached to the Commission’s opposition brief filed in Fletcher v. Reilly, No. 01-2058 (D.D.C.).
. Plaintiff is now represented by appointed counsel.
. The amended complaint, filed by counsel subsequently, added a claim under Bivens. Amend. Compl. ¶ 3.
.This statute dissolved the D.C. Board and transferred parole authority over D.C. offenders to the Commission. Id.
. This Court’s dismissal of the District of Columbia defendants was affirmed. See id. at 1225 n. * *.
. In
Settles,
plaintiff requested declaratory and injunctive relief.
See Settles,
. The court in
Settles
noted that under
Fletcher I
individual Commissioners could be sued under
. Prospective injunctive relief against the former Commissioners makes no sense as they cannot act on future parole or reparole matters involving plaintiff or anyone else. Nor can present Commissioners act on such future matters in a personal capacity; rather, they act officially as agents of the government entity-
. As noted earlier, despite statements in the amended complaint to the contrary, plaintiff now asserts that his claims against the defendants under
. As explained below, the application of the guidelines to plaintiff in the 2000 reparole decision is the only proper basis for plaintiff's Bivens claim. Logically, that claim can only lie against the Commissioners in office then— who applied the guidelines and made the decision on plaintiff’s reparole.
. Plaintiff asserts that defendants should have been aware of the ex post facto violation because of the decision in
Blair-Bey v. Quick,
. The personal jurisdiction issue relates only to the individual Commissioners sued in their personal capacities — i.e., on the Bivens claim raised in the amended complaint filed in April 2006. No personal jurisdiction issue exists with respect to individual Commissioners sued in their official capacities; indeed, Fletcher I and Fletcher II recognize no issue of personal jurisdiction.
. The three-year limitations period for
Bivens
claims is subject to an exception for the intentional torts specifically enumerated in D.C.Code 12-301(4).
See Bame,
. The Court has construed the Bivens claim as being only against the Commissioners who participated in plaintiff's reparole decision in 2000.