Henderson v. Bryant

606 F. App'x 301
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 30, 2015
DocketNo. 14-3720
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 606 F. App'x 301 (Henderson v. Bryant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Henderson v. Bryant, 606 F. App'x 301 (7th Cir. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER

Willie Henderson, designated a sexually violent person under Illinois’ Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, 725 ILCS 207/1-99, has been civilly committed to a treatment facility for much of the past 15 years. In 2013 Henderson was briefly released from physical custody and placed on conditional release, during which he was required to abide by 55 separate “Conditions of Release.” He was recommitted to the state’s custody three months later. In this lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, he alleges that many of the conditions violated his constitutional rights, that his conditional-release agent and others abused him, and that he has been unlawfully recommitted. The district court dismissed Henderson’s case for lack of a valid claim. We vacate the dismissal in part because the court should have allowed one aspect of the case to move forward.

The sequence of events begins in July 2013, when Henderson was placed on conditional release. See 725 ILCS § 207/40(3)-(5). Among the 55 conditions of release, Henderson was ordered that he must: “[r]efrain from entering into a relationship of any type without written approval ... any unauthorized relationships will be terminated immediately, including but not limited to relationships with family members;” “refrain from watching out any/all windows of residence for sexual gratification or any other reason;” “not purchase any items of any kind unless authorized;” “[rjefrain from entering anyone’s motor vehicle and/or travelling with anyone in their vehicle without prior identification and approval;” “[n]ot establish a dating, intimate, or sexual relationship with a person” without prior approval; “[n]ot have photos or pictures of any child including your own in your home or in your control” without approval; “[n]either possess or have under your control any material that is pornographic, sexually oriented, or sexually stimulating, or that depicts or alludes to adult sexual activity or depicts minors under the age of 18, including but not limited to visual, auditory, telephonic, electronic media, or any matter obtained through access to the internet, access to any computer or material linked to computer access use;” and “[r]efrain from owning or having in your possession any animal of any type ... refrain from babysitting or watching another person’s pet or animal at any time.”

[303]*303After three months his conditional release was revoked and Henderson was recommitted (presumably pursuant to a state court order for violating a condition, see id. § 207/40(4)), precipitating this suit. He sued Steve Bryant, the director of Liberty Healthcare (the corporation that operates the conditional-release program for sexually violent persons in Illinois), Nathan Ro-sato, his conditional-release agent, and Rhonda Meacham, his therapist. Henderson contends generally that the terms of conditional release are overbroad, the defendants enforced those terms unreasonably, and he should not have been recommitted. He elaborates that, while he was on release, the defendants prevented him from contacting his family and confiscated his family pictures; Rosato entered with his own key and searched Henderson’s apartment unannounced while he was sleeping at night or showering; and both Rosato and Meacham verbally abused him in public.

The district court recruited counsel to assist Henderson in drafting an amended complaint but eventually dismissed the case. Counsel obtained a copy of the terms of Henderson’s conditional release. In addition to the restrictions listed above, the terms permitted the release agent to “conduct random home visits including searches of the premises, person and personal property” of Henderson. Because the terms authorized random searches, the attorney evidently believed that the way in which agent searched Henderson’s home— entering and searching at night as Henderson slept or showered — was not constitutionally suspect. Apparently seeing no other claims to advance, he moved to withdraw.

Henderson opposed the motion. He argued that the attorney had focused on only one issue in his complaint and had ignored Henderson’s claims regarding the constitutionality of many of the 55 conditions of release. The district court nonetheless granted the attorney’s request, and after Henderson filed two amended complaints elaborating on his allegations, it dismissed the case. The district court stated only that the amended complaint “does not state a plausible, valid federal cause of action.”

Henderson appeals, and we agree with him that the district court too hastily disposed of all his claims. As a general matter, “[c]M detainees ‘are entitled to more considerate treatment and conditions of confinement than criminals whose conditions of confinement are designed to punish.’ ” McGee v. Adams, 721 F.3d 474, 480 (7th Cir.2013) (quoting Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U.S. 307, 321-22, 102 S.Ct. 2452, 73 L.Ed.2d 28 (1982)). And in reviewing conditions of supervised release in federal criminal sentences, we have recently invalidated restrictions similar to some in this case, concluding that they were constitutionally vague and overbroad or infringe on protected speech. See United States v. Adkins, 743 F.3d 176, 193-96 (7th Cir.2014); United States v. Benhoff, 755 F.3d 504, 506 (7th Cir.2014); United States v. Shannon, 743 F.3d 496, 500-01 (7th Cir.2014). Against this background, we consider Henderson’s complaint and construe it liberally because he is pro se. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007). He appears to present four types of claims. We examine each possibility and conclude that one warrants a remand.

First, Henderson may be seeking release from civil commitment on the theory that his. recommitment is based on his violation of unconstitutional terms of release; he may raise that claim for release for custody, however, only in a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, not in a § 1983 suit. See Duncan v. Walker, 533 U.S. 167, 176, 121 S.Ct. 2120, 150 L.Ed.2d 251 [304]*304(2001); Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7, 118 S.Ct. 978, 140 L.Ed.2d 43 (1998). Although a court can recharacterize a civil-rights claim as a habeas petition, it should only do so where the complaint names the correct defendants and seeks the correct relief. Glaus v. Anderson, 408 F.3d 382, 388-90 (7th Cir.2005). Henderson has not named as a defendant the director of the detention facility&emdash;the proper respondent for a habeas petition&emdash;so this aspect of his complaint was rightly dismissed. If Henderson wishes to challenge his recom-mitment, he must file a habeas petition in a separate suit.

Second, Henderson may be seeking damages for having been recommitted based on the violation of release conditions that he contends are unconstitutional; this claim is also unavailable to him now.

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Bluebook (online)
606 F. App'x 301, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-v-bryant-ca7-2015.