Eytcheson v. Caternolo

• Court: District Court, W.D. Washington
• Decided: August 28, 2024
• Docket: 2:24-cv-00558
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2

3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 FRANKLIN GENE EYTCHESON, CASE NO. 2:24-cv-00558 8 Petitioner, ORDER DISMISSING CASE FOR 9 MOOTNESS v. 10 R. CATERNOLO, 11 Respondent. 12

14 This matter comes before the Court on the Report and Recommendation 15 (“R&R”) of the Honorable Brian A. Tsuchida, United States Magistrate Judge, on 16 Petitioner Franklin Gene Eytcheson’s habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. 17 § 2241. Dkt. No. 12. Judge Tsuchida recommends denying Eytcheson’s petition for 18 failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. Id. Respondent United States 19 Bureau of Prisons (BOP) objected to the R&R, Dkt. No. 14, but Eytcheson did not 20 respond, see Dkt. This Court need not address the exhaustion issue raised by Judge 21 Tsuchida, however, because BOP released Eytcheson from custody on August 1, 22 2024, mooting his claim. See Dkt. No. 13 at 1. The petition is therefore DENIED. 23 1 Under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, federal courts may adjudicate only 2 actual, ongoing cases or controversies. Deakins v. Monaghan, 484 U.S. 193, 199

3 (1988). To sustain federal court jurisdiction, parties “must continue to have a 4 personal stake in the outcome of the lawsuit.” Lewis v. Cont’l Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 5 472, 477-78 (1990). When the issues presented are no longer “live,” an action 6 becomes moot. Ruiz v. City of Santa Maria, 160 F.3d 543, 549 (9th Cir. 1998). 7 Eytcheson claims BOP owed him earned time credits (“ETCs”) under the 8 First Step Act (FSA), 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d), to be applied toward early release. His

9 petition asks the Court to order BOP to “remove ‘disallowed’ days from [Petitioner’s] 10 FSA Time Assessment and apply all FSA Time Credit that he has earned from the 11 time of sentencing.” Dkt. No. 6 at 5. But Eytcheson is no longer incarcerated. See 12 Dkt. No. 13 at 1 (mail returned to sender); see also BOP Inmate Locator, 13 https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/ (last visited on August 26, 2024) (indicating release 14 from custody on August 1, 2024); United States v. Basher, 629 F.3d 1161, 1165 n.2 15 (9th Cir. 2011) (taking judicial notice of BOP Inmate Locator).

16 The determination of Eytcheson’s FSA ETCs is therefore no longer a live 17 issue. And because Eytcheson has requested no further relief, his petition is now 18 moot.1 See Fendler v. Bureau of Prisons, 846 F.2d 550, 555 (9th Cir. 1998) (district 19

20 1 Mootness deprives the Court of its power to consider the merits of Eytcheson’s petition, so this Court will not pronounce whether BOP’s approach to ETCs is right 21 or wrong. But under similar circumstances, one court in this district found that “the FSA unambiguously requires the BOP” to run ETC eligibility from the date a 22 prisoner is sentenced and committed to BOP custody, as Eytcheson argued in his petition. Patel v. Barron, No. C23-937-KKE, 2023 WL 6311281, at *3-5 (W.D. Wash. 23 Sept. 28, 2023). 1 court properly denied § 2241 habeas petition as moot where the petitioner had

9 “already been released on parole and ha[d] not challenged the validity of the

3 original conviction.”). 4 Based on its review of the R&R, the record, and the law, the Court ORDERS

5 || as follows:

G 1. The Court ADOPTS the R&R in part, and DENIES Eytcheson’s petition 7 as moot.

8 2. The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this order to the parties and to

9 the Honorable Brian A. Tsuchida.

10 Dated this 28th day of August 2024.

11 1 for 13 jamal Whithead United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23