Dietz v. Sanders

100 F. App'x 334
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMarch 31, 2004
DocketNo. 02-6415
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 100 F. App'x 334 (Dietz v. Sanders) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dietz v. Sanders, 100 F. App'x 334 (6th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Petitioner Fredrick Lee Dietz appeals the district court’s denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. For the following reasons, the judgment of the district court denying the writ of habeas corpus is affirmed.

I.

Petitioner was released on parole on July 9, 1992, after serving approximately 6 years of an aggregate 18 year sentence imposed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. At the time of his parole, Petitioner had 4,883 days remaining on his aggregate sentence and a parole termination date of July 9, 2004. Subsequent to his 1992 parole, Petitioner had a succession of new convictions, incarcerations, and parole violations.1 By notice of action dated May 15, 2001, the Parole Commission revoked Appellant’s parole and ordered the forfeiture of all 2109 days he had spent on parole. As a [336]*336consequence of this order, Petitioner’s full term date for his original 18 year sentence has been extended to October 22, 2010.

II.

We review de novo a district court’s denial of a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Rosales-Garcia v. Holland, 322 F.3d 386, 401 (6th Cir.2003) (citing Asad v. Reno, 242 F.3d 702, 704 (6th Cir.2001)). This court’s review of a decision by the Parole Commission is “extremely limited.” Hackett v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 851 F.2d 127, 129 (6th Cir.1987). We are limited to determining whether there was a “rational basis” in the record for the Commission’s conclusions and whether the Commission was acting within its statutory and regulatory authority when it considered such evidence. Id. (quoting Solomon v. Elsea, 676 F.2d 282, 290 (7th Cir.1982)).

III.

Petitioner challenges the continuing jurisdiction of the Parole Commission based on the Commission’s July 28, 1997, Notice of Action which states:

Withdraw Warrant dated 8/7/92 and Reinstate to Supervision (inactive due to new sentence).

Petitioner contends that this order effectively terminated the jurisdiction of the Commission over him pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4211(a).

Petitioner relies on Martin v. Luther, 689 F.2d 109 (7th Cir.1982), in support of his contention that “inactive supervision” means a termination of jurisdiction. Petitioner’s reliance on Martin is misplaced. In Martin the Seventh Circuit observed that the term “jurisdiction” is a shorthand description of the Commission’s supervisory authority over the parolee. Id. at 115. “[Wjhen Commission ‘supervision’ ended, so did its ‘jurisdiction.’ ” Id. The July 1997 Notice of Action, however, did not purport to “end” the Commission’s supervision. The Notice of Action described the supervision as “inactive,” not “ended.” As the district court correctly noted, “inactive” does not mean “terminated,” either in the dictionary2 or in general parlance.

Further, “inactive supervision” cannot reasonably be understood to mean “termination of jurisdiction to supervise,” either under the law or under the particular facts of this case. Early termination of parole is within the authority of the Parole Commission: “Upon its own motion or upon request of the parolee, the Commission may terminate supervision over a parolee prior to the termination of jurisdiction under section 4210.” 18 U.S.C. § 4211(a). However, this is not what the Commission did in July 1997. In July 1997 the Commission had an outstanding warrant lodged as a detainer against Petitioner who was then incarcerated on a 62-month sentence from the Southern District of Texas. During his incarceration the Commission had no need to supervise Petitioner’s conduct. Accordingly, through the July 28, 1997, Notice of Action the Commission withdrew its warrant dated August 7, 1992, reinstated petitioner to supervision, and clarified [337]*337that the supervision would be inactive until Petitioner’s release from incarceration. The Commission’s description of the supervision as “inactive” accurately described the Commission’s relation to the Petitioner during his incarceration. It did not suggest that supervision was being terminated.

Furthermore, the facts of this case are not such as would reasonably cause one to believe that the Commission intended to terminate Petitioner’s supervision by its July 1997 order. Supervision can be terminated when there is no longer the “need for continued supervision.” 18 U.S.C. § 4211(b). The regulations governing early termination provide that termination of supervision shall occur when the parolee has completed two or more “continuous years of supervision free from any indication of new criminal behavior or serious parole violation.” 28 C.F.R. § 2.43(e). Petitioner had just been convicted of new criminal behavior while on parole. He was not eligible for consideration for early termination. We conclude that the Parole Commission did not terminate its jurisdiction over Petitioner when it issued its July 28, 1997, Notice of Action.

IV.

Petitioner also objects to the Commission’s forfeiture of the time he spent on parole. On February 16, 2000, the Commission issued a warrant charging Petitioner with new criminal conduct. The warrant application contains a warning that if convicted of a new offense punishable by a term of imprisonment, Petitioner would not receive sentence credit for the time spent on parole.3 Subsequent to the revocation hearing held on March 19, 2001, Petitioner’s parole was revoked and all of the time he spent on parole was forfeited.

On appeal, Petitioner objects to the revocation of time spent on parole (“street time”) on two separate grounds. Petitioner’s first contention is that the Commission’s regulation relative to forfeiture of street time, 28 C.F.R. § 2.52(c)(2),4 is an unreasonable interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 4210(b)(2).5 In support of this argument Petitioner relies on the Ninth Circuit’s invalidation of § 2.52(c)(2) on the basis that it impermissibly changed the scope of the statute by making street time forfeiture mandatory instead of discretionary. Rizzo

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100 F. App'x 334, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dietz-v-sanders-ca6-2004.