Hamilton v. Singletary

646 So. 2d 734, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 3369, 1994 WL 122837
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 13, 1994
DocketNo. 93-288
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 646 So. 2d 734 (Hamilton v. Singletary) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hamilton v. Singletary, 646 So. 2d 734, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 3369, 1994 WL 122837 (Fla. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, Henry Hamilton, appeals the trial court’s denial of his petition for writ of mandamus challenging the DOC’s awards of basic and incentive gain-time. We affirm as to appellant’s basic gain-time award, reverse as to appellant’s incentive gain-time award and remand.

Appellant, Henry Hamilton, was received by the Department of Corrections (DOC) on December 1, 1988. Two of the offenses for which appellant was convicted were of a continuing nature, the first occurring between July 1979 and June 1987, and the second between February 1983 and June 1987.

Appellant filed a petition for writ of mandamus contending first that the DOC erred in the award of basic gain-time. We do not address this question, however, as appellant has abandoned that argument on appeal. We affirm the trial court’s order to the extent that it pertains to appellant’s basic gain-time award.

Next, appellant contended that the DOC abused its discretion in the award of incentive gain-time, the maximum amount available being 37 days per month pursuant to Waldrup v. Dugger, 562 So.2d 687 (Fla.1990), and Raske v. Martinez, 876 F.2d 1496 (11th Cir.1989). Appellant argued that the DOC improperly “converted” or adjusted on a percentage basis the incentive gain-time earned under the statute declared unconstitutional in Waldrup v. Dugger. Appellant attached “Exhibit F” which explained the DOC conversion. The document provides in pertinent part:

[735]*735Due to the recent decision in Waldrup v. Dugger, your record of monthly gaintime awards has been adjusted to the types of gaintime that were in effect at the time of your offense. We have made the conversion of your incentive gaintime awards to that of work and/or extra gaintime, on a percentage basis (explained below). If you are serving one or more sentences, the appropriate type of gaintime will apply to each individual sentence, and your release date will be based on the overall sentence and/or the controlling sentence.
Percentage Guideline:
The number of days of the incentive gain-time award for each month is divided by 20 (which is the max of incentive allowed per month) to get the percentage earned; then the number of days in a specific month is multiplied by that percentage to convert the award to work gaintime. If you were eligible for extra gaintime, the maximum 6 days allowed is multiplied by the same percentage to calculate the appropriate award of extra gaintime.

The “conversion” increased appellant’s incentive gain-time award by 11.7 days per month over a 20 month period for an average monthly award of 29.4 days. Appellant argued that the adjusted figure falls far short of the maximum amount of 37 days available on the basis of his “outstanding” job ratings as reflected on his gain-time slips. Appellant stated that the relevant time period of the DOC’s “conversion” was December 1988 through July 1990.

The DOC’s response indicated that “pursuant to” Waldrwp and Raske, the incentive gain-time awarded to appellant was converted on a percentage basis to work and extra gain-time. This conversion covered the period December 1988 through March 1990, and resulted in 235 days of gain-time. The awards after April 1990 have been in work and extra gain-time, thereby obviating the necessity for conversion.

The DOC argued that appellant improperly claimed entitlement to the maximum award of “work” and “extra” gain-time (37 days in a month with 31 days) in each month that he received an “outstanding” rating, even though he did not receive the maximum incentive gain-time award of 20 days each month. The DOC argued that the “conversion” is a proper implementation of the decisions in Waldrup and Raske, and that these decisions merely hold that the DOC is to apply the law in place when appellant committed the offense controlling his release. The applicable law did not require that an inmate rated above satisfactory or outstanding receive 37 days of basic gain-time per month. See § 944.275(2)(b), (3)(a), Fla.Stat. (1979). Rather, the statute authorized an award of up to 1 day for each day worked and an extra one to 6 days when an inmate diligently participates in an approved course of study. The conversion to the more generous gain-time statute on a percentage basis is a reasonable and fair method to apply the law in effect when the offense was committed.

In denying appellant’s petition, the trial court found that appellant was not entitled to a maximum award of work and extra gain-time when appellant did not earn the maximum award of incentive gain-time. Furthermore, the court found that the percentage conversion of incentive gain-time to work and extra gain-time is a reasonable and fair method to apply the Waldrup and Raske decisions.

Two issues are raised on appeal: (1) whether the DOC’s percentage conversion of incentive gain-time to work and extra gain-time violates the ex post facto prohibition or deprives appellant of equal protection or due process of law; (2) whether the DOC abused its discretion by failing to award the maximum amount of work and extra gain-time available to appellant.

With respect to the “conversion” issue, the DOC has clearly failed to follow the mandate of the Florida Supreme Court in Waldrup v. Dugger, 562 So.2d 687 (Fla.1990). Essentially, the DOC argues that it is fair to convert the percentage of incentive gain-time awarded under the 1983 (unconstitutional) statute to work and extra gain-time under the applicable 1979 statute. The DOC proceeds on the theory that the actual incentive gain-time awards appellant would have received under the 1979 statute may be approx[736]*736imately derived by multiplying the percentage of gain-time awarded under the 1983 amendments by the maximum incentive gain-time awards available under the 1979 statute. Such a presumption carries neither the force of logic nor the authority of law. Rather, it is apparent that the DOC has fashioned a new rule to apply in lieu of the 1979 statute.

As explained in Waldrup, the pre-1983 statute provided two types of incentive gain-time. “Work” gain-time was awarded to a prisoner who committed no infraction of the rules ... or laws of the state and who has accomplished, in a satisfactory and acceptable manner, the work, duties, and tasks assigned. Id. at 689, text accompanying n. 3 (citing Section 944.275(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1981)). Under the cited statute, a prisoner could be awarded up to one day of gain-time for each day of productive or institutional labor. Second, “extra” gain-time of one to six days per month could be given for work performance “over and above that which may normally be expected,” among other reasons. Id. at 689, text accompanying n. 4 (citing Section 944.275(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1981)). The pre-1983 incentive gain-time provisions were replaced by a statute that provided for an award of up to 20 days of incentive gain-time to a prisoner who works “diligently, participates in training, uses time constructively, and otherwise engages in positive activities_” Id. at 690, text accompanying n. 9, citing Section 944.275(4)(b), Florida Statutes (1987) (emphasis added).

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Related

Singletary v. Hamilton
661 So. 2d 816 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
646 So. 2d 734, 1994 Fla. App. LEXIS 3369, 1994 WL 122837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hamilton-v-singletary-fladistctapp-1994.