United States v. Michael Ramer
787 F.3d 837
7th Cir.
2015
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UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael RAMER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 13-3644.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Submitted May 15, 2015. Decided May 29, 2015.

837 F.3d 837

as

(77 days);
(90 days); and
(75 days).

Six months is not an apt presumptive minimum for establishing a violation. Judges who lean toward such a presumption may be unfamiliar with the nature of modern prison segregation and the psychological damage that it can inflict. Segregation isn‘t just separating a prisoner from one or several other prisoners. As noted by the Supreme Court in the Wilkinson case, “almost all human contact is prohibited, even to the point that conversation is not permitted from cell to cell; the light, though it may be dimmed, is on for 24 hours; exercise is for 1 hour per day, but only in a small indoor room.”

. The serious psychological consequences of such quasi-solitary imprisonment have been documented. See, e.g., Elizabeth Bennion, “Banning the Bing: Why Extreme Solitary Confinement is Cruel and Far Too Usual Punishment,” 90 Indiana Law Journal 741 (2015); Stuart Grassian, “Psychiatric Effects of Solitary Confinement,” 22 Washington University Journal of Law & Policy 325 (2006); Craig Haney & Mona Lynch, “Regulating Prisons of the Future: A Psychological Analysis of Supermax and Solitary Confinement,” 23 N.Y.U. Review of Law & Social Change 477 (1997).

Kervin, however, was placed in segregation for at most 30 days and, more importantly, does not allege that he suffered any significant psychological or other injury from it. So the judge was right to dismiss his suit. But we take this opportunity to remind both prison officials and judges to be alert for the potentially serious adverse consequences of protracted segregation as punishment for misbehavior in prison, especially the kind of nonviolent misbehavior involved in the present case.

AFFIRMED.

Gregory J. Haanstad, Attorney, Office of the United States Trustee, Milwaukee, WI, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Daniel J. Hillis, Attorney, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Springfield, IL, John C. Taylor, Attorney, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Urbana, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before WOOD, Chief Judge, and CUDAHY and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Michael Ramer was convicted after a bench trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1349. The conviction stemmed from a sham investment scheme in which Mr. Ramer and a codefendant solicited more than $1 million from individuals, but did not invest the money as they had promised.1 For his role in the operation, the district court sentenced Mr. Ramer to 42 months’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay $1,077,500 in restitution. The court also imposed a 3-year term of supervised release and, as a special condition, directed that Mr. Ramer make restitution payments “at a rate of not less than $100 per month.” Mr. Ramer filed this appeal, and in his brief he argues solely that the district court erred by not conditioning the restitution payments on his ability to pay.

Before the Government filed its brief, however, the district court had amended the judgment to state that Mr. Ramer‘s obligation to pay $100 each month as part of his supervised release is “conditioned on” his ability to pay. That modification was made in response to the parties’ joint request, and thus the Government argues in its brief that Mr. Ramer‘s appeal is moot. Mr. Ramer, inexplicably, has not moved to dismiss his appeal. See FED. R.APP. P. 42(b). Nor has he filed a reply brief commenting on the Government‘s contention that the appeal is moot.

We begin by addressing whether the district court retained subject-matter jurisdiction to revise the judgment after Mr. Ramer had filed a notice of appeal. Ordinarily, filing a notice of appeal divests a district court of jurisdiction. See

;
. But there are exceptions to this general rule. See, e.g.,
(stating that district court may address ancillary issues such as attorneys’ fees and clerical mistakes after notice of appeal is filed);
(explaining that district court retains jurisdiction despite Government‘s interlocutory appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731 from order suppressing evidence);
(stating that appeal from frivolous motion to dismiss indictment on ground of double jeopardy does not divest district court of jurisdiction);
(explaining that notice of appeal challenging nonappealable order does not divest district court of jurisdiction);
(noting that general rule divesting district court of jurisdiction upon filing notice of appeal is judge-made doctrine, not statutory or mandatory rule).

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(2) district courts may “modify, reduce, or enlarge the conditions of supervised release, at any time prior to the expiration or termination of the term of supervised release.” We have not yet considered this statutory provision in a published decision, but the First Circuit has. That court concluded that § 3583(e)(2) authorizes a district court to modify conditions of supervised release even while a direct appeal from the conviction and sentence is pending. See

. We agree with the First Circuit‘s conclusion and hold that the district court retained jurisdiction to modify the conditions of Mr. Ramer‘s supervised re-lease while this appeal was pending.

In his brief Mr. Ramer asks only that we remand with instructions to modify his obligation to pay restitution while on supervised release to reflect that it is dependent on his ability to pay. The district court already has properly granted that relief. Accordingly, we agree with the Government that the appeal is moot because we cannot give Mr. Ramer any effective relief. See

;
.

DISMISSED.

Notes

1
The judgment identifies the offense of conviction as wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, when in fact the indictment and the district court‘s verdict were for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, id. §§ 1343, 1349. The district court can correct this clerical error at any time. See FED.R.CRIM.P. 36.
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