Dufur v. U.S. Parole Comm'n

314 F. Supp. 3d 10
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMay 24, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 17–677 (RDM)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 314 F. Supp. 3d 10 (Dufur v. U.S. Parole Comm'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dufur v. U.S. Parole Comm'n, 314 F. Supp. 3d 10 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

Opinion

RANDOLPH D. MOSS, United States District Judge

This case presents the question whether mandatory parole in the federal prison system is mandatory. It is not. That counterintuitive result understandably led Plaintiff Artie Dufur, a pro se prisoner who is serving a parole-eligible federal life sentence, to challenge the decision of Defendant United States Parole Commission ("the Commission") denying him parole. Dkt. 1 at 2-3 (Compl. ¶¶ 2-3, 5). As relevant here, there are two paths to parole for inmates in Dufur's position. First, the Commission applies a "two-thirds" rule for what it terms mandatory parole. Under that rule, the Commission is required to release an eligible prisoner, "serving a sentence of five years or longer," after the prisoner has served two-thirds of his sentence or after serving thirty years of a sentence of "more than forty-five years." 18 U.S.C. § 4206(d).1 The mandatory parole rule, however, is subject to exceptions; among other things, it does not apply if the Commission determines "that there is a reasonable probability that [the prisoner] will commit any Federal, State, or local crime." Id. Second, the Commission also possesses the discretion, subject to certain exceptions, to parole inmates who have served at least one-third of their sentence, or ten years in the case of a life sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 4205. Dufur's principal claim is that the Commission's recent decision to deny him mandatory parole violated various statutory, regulatory, and constitutional *13provisions. He also alleges that the Commission's earlier decisions denying him discretionary parole were unlawful. The Commission has moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.2 Dkt. 9.

For the reasons explained below, the Court agrees with Commission that Dufur has failed to state a claim. The Court will, accordingly, GRANT the Commission's motion, Dkt. 9, and will DISMISS the case.

I. BACKGROUND

On a motion to dismiss, the Court accepts the plaintiff's "well-pleaded factual allegations" as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). The Court also considers "any documents either attached to or incorporated in the complaint and matters" subject to judicial notice. See EEOC v. St. Francis Xavier Parochial Sch. , 117 F.3d 621, 624 (D.C. Cir. 1997). The Court may, as a result, consider the three administrative decisions attached to Dufur's complaint. The Court may also consider the copies of Dufur's administrative appeal and amended administrative appeal, which are attached to the Commission's motion to dismiss. Although those latter documents were not attached to the complaint, they are referred to in it and are "integral to [the plaintiff's] claim." Banneker Ventures, LLC v. Graham , 798 F.3d 1119, 1133 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (quoting Kaempe v. Myers , 367 F.3d 958, 965 (D.C. Cir. 2004) ); see also Dkt. 1 at 4-5, 6-7 (Compl. ¶¶ 7, 10-11); id. at 10. More importantly, Dufur does not object to the Commission's reliance on these documents and, indeed, relies on them himself. See Dkt. 11 at 5 n.1. Under these circumstances, the Court concludes that it may rely on Dufur's administrative appeal and amended administrative appeal, which in any event only further explicate Dufur's claims, "without converting the motion into one for summary judgment." Banneker Ventures , 798 F.3d at 1133.

The events giving rise to Dufur's claims date back to the 1970s, when Dufur was serving a life sentence in California state prison for a double murder. Dkt. 1 at 9, 11. Dufur escaped in 1977, id. at 2-3 (Compl. ¶ 4); id. at 9, and eventually made his way to Canada, Dkt. 1 at 2-3 (Compl. ¶ 4). On May 24, 1979, Dufur entered the United States "at a customs check point on the Canadian border near Lynden, Washington." United States v. Dufur , 648 F.2d 512, 513 (9th Cir. 1980) ; Dkt. 1 at 2-3 (Compl. ¶ 4). After refusing to submit to a search by a United States Customs inspector, Dufur drew a firearm and shot the inspector to death. Dkt. 1 at 2-3 (Compl. ¶ 4). Dufur was apprehended and, on September 17, 1979, found guilty of first-degree murder of the inspector and armed assault on another federal officer. Id. (Compl. ¶ 5). On October 14, 1979, before he was sentenced on that conviction, he escaped from King County Jail in Seattle, Washington, where he was being held on the federal charges. Id. at 11-12. During the course of the second escape, he attempted to murder additional law enforcement officers, id. , and another inmate was killed, id. at 9. After his apprehension, Dufur pleaded guilty to further charges, including escaping *14custody while awaiting sentencing. Id. at 3 (Compl. ¶ 5). He was sentenced on October 17, 1979, on these new charges and the prior murder and assault charges to a minimum of ten years and a maximum of life with the possibility of parole. Id. (Compl. ¶ 5).

On June 22, 2004, the Commission calculated that Dufur would become eligible for mandatory parole on September 24, 2016. Id. at 11. The Commission also set a hearing for June 2006. Id. at 12. The record reveals no details about that proceeding, next referencing a May 25, 2016 parole hearing to consider Dufur's eligibility for mandatory parole. Id. at 3 (Compl. ¶ 6). After that hearing, the Commission concluded that Dufur should not be paroled because of the risk that he would commit a crime in the future, id. at 3-4 (Compl.

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Bluebook (online)
314 F. Supp. 3d 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dufur-v-us-parole-commn-cadc-2018.