Crider v. Keohane

526 F. Supp. 727, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16073
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedMay 27, 1981
DocketCIV-78-0123-D
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 526 F. Supp. 727 (Crider v. Keohane) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crider v. Keohane, 526 F. Supp. 727, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16073 (W.D. Okla. 1981).

Opinion

ORDER

DAUGHERTY, Chief Judge.

On October 15, 1980 the mandate of the Court of Appeals was filed herein reversing and remanding this case for proceedings consistent with the per curiam opinion of the Court of Appeals. Said Opinion expressed no opinion on the merits of the Petitioner’s claims, and invited further proceedings by way of pretrial discovery or a proper expansion of the record. (Court of Appeals No. 79-1590.) On October 16, 1980, the Respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss with a supporting Brief and evidentiary materials wherein the issue of mootness was raised by reason of the fact that the Petitioner only complains herein of prison *728 conditions at the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno, Oklahoma and he is no longer incarcerated therein. The Petitioner filed a Response which denied the Respondent’s claim of mootness and further alleged that dismissal is precluded by the decision of the Court of Appeals herein. The Petitioner has also filed a Motion to Amend Complaint as well as a Motion to Expand Record. The latter Motion includes attached exhibits consisting of “Affidavits” of some 18 inmates of said Federal Correctional Institution at El Reno, Oklahoma which can be generally categorized as condition of confinement complaints including, inter alia, inadequate food, living space, mail service, clothing and medication. Upon review of this proceeding the Court finds and concludes as follows:

1. The threshold question is the effect to be given the Order entered by the Court of Appeals on September 30, 1980 regarding Appellee’s (Respondent herein) petition for rehearing in that court wherein the Court stated:

“[u]pon consideration of the arguments of appellee, the petition for rehearing and the motion to supplement the record are hereby denied.”

Said Order was entered following the Respondent’s pleadings filed in the Court of Appeals raising the issue of mootness which is also the basis for the instant Motion to Dismiss. These circumstances lead this Court to the conclusion that the Court of Appeals has not adjudicated the merits of the mootness issue and the failure of the Petition for Rehearing does not imply any judgment on the merits of this issue. In re Grand Jury Investigation, 542 F.2d 166, 173-174 (3 Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1047, 97 S.Ct. 755, 50 L.Ed.2d 762 (1977).

2. The Petitioner filed this habeas corpus action on February 15, 1978 while he was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno, Oklahoma. His complaint raised only conditions of confinement issues. 1 Said habeas corpus complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 sought no relief other than release from said institution. There were no averments that the Petitioner represented a class of federal prisoners having similar condition of confinement claims. Petitioner did not seek to proceed as a class action. The first suggestion of a class action under Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A., was subsequent to the denial of the petition of rehearing by the Court of Appeals and following the Respondent’s motion to dismiss now under consideration. This suggestion which did not request class action determination under Rule 23, supra, was contained in Petitioner’s Motion to expand the record to allege continuing constitutional violations at the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno, Oklahoma, supported by said “affidavits”. Hence, Petitioner did not bring his action as a class action, a class action has not been determined or certified herein by the Court and it is questionable if Petitioner now desires to so proceed as he has not pled the prerequisites of a Rule 23 class action or noticed a class action certification request in accordance with Local Rule 17(d). 2

*729 3. It is undisputed in the record now before the Court that the Petitioner was paroled to the custody of the State of Oklahoma on January 9, 1980 and is no longer incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno, Oklahoma.

4. The doctrine of mootness goes directly to the power and jurisdiction of the court to act and requires that in federal cases an actual controversy exist at all stages of review, not merely at the time the complaint is filed. Preiser v. Newkirk, 422 U.S. 395, 401-402, 95 S.Ct. 2330, 2334, 45 L.Ed.2d 272 (1975). The aegis of the doctrine, “... like ripeness and standing, has its constitutional origin in the ‘case or controversy’ limitation of Article III which insures that courts exercise their power only in cases where true adversary context allows informed judicial resolution.” Wiley v. National Collegiate Athletic Assoc., 612 F.2d 473, 475 (10 Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 943, 100 S.Ct. 2168, 64 L.Ed.2d 798. The policies underlying mootness are that it conserves judicial energies for litigants who have a real need for official dispute resolutions; it ensures adverse presentation of factual and legal issues to protect against ill-advised adjudication; and, it restrains the judiciary from injecting itself into affairs of the legislative and executive branches. Kidwell ex rel. Penfold v. Meikle, 597 F.2d 1273, 1289 (9 Cir. 1979).

5. The doctrine of mootness vis-avis class action claims has received some attention by the United States Supreme Court. In United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388 at page 404, 100 S.Ct. 1202 at page 1212, 63 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980), the plaintiff sought a class action which the district court denied. The Supreme Court held:

“Our holding is limited to the appeal of the denial of the class certification motion. A named plaintiff whose claim expires may not continue to press the appeal on the merits until a class has been properly certified. See Deposit Guaranty National Bank, Jackson, Miss. v. Roper, ante [445 U.S. 326] at 336-337 [100 S.Ct. 1166 at 1172-1173, 63 L.Ed.2d 427]. If, on appeal, it is determined that class certification properly was denied, the claim on the merits must be dismissed as moot.”

In the instant case Petitioner did not seek a class action, a request for one was not denied and no appeal was taken from such a decision. Hence, the above case is not directly in point but does provide that when a plaintiff’s claim has expired it becomes moot in the absence of an appeal on a denial of a request for class action certification.

In Bell v. Wolfish,

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526 F. Supp. 727, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16073, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crider-v-keohane-okwd-1981.