Holliday v. Settle

218 F. Supp. 738, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7531
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedJuly 18, 1963
DocketCiv. A. No. 14296-4
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 218 F. Supp. 738 (Holliday v. Settle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holliday v. Settle, 218 F. Supp. 738, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7531 (W.D. Mo. 1963).

Opinion

BECKER, District Judge.

In this action petitioner, an inmate of the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri, originally filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on March 13, 1963, and filed supplemental petitions on March 29, 1963, and April 4, 1963. An order to show cause was issued on April 4, 1963. Thereafter a response and a first and second supplemental response were filed. After the order to show cause was issued the petitioner submitted five additional documents to this Court supplementing those previously filed. These documents will be treated as part of the original petition for writ of habeas corpus.

From the pleadings on file herein it appears that the petitioner herein was originally sentenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas on April 1,1953, to two consecutive 5-year terms for bank robbery and attempted bank robbery. He was originally confined at the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. On June 30, 1955, he was certified by the Board of Examiners to be of unsound mind and, by order of July 14, 1955, removed to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri. On June 16, 1960, the Warden of the Medical Center at Springfield certified that petitioner had been restored to sanity and was considered mentally competent. On June 25, 1960, a Certificate of Mandatory Release was executed releasing petitioner in accordance with the provisions of Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 4163. Section 4164 of Title 18 U.S.C.A. provides that a prisoner having served his term less good time deductions shall upon release be treated as if released on parole, and shall be subject to all provisions of law relating to the parole of United States prisoners until the expiration of the maximum term for which he was sentenced. The conditions set forth on the reverse of petitioner’s Certificate of Mandatory Release provided among other things that the petitioner was to report to Mr. W. Page White, CUSPO, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and remain within the Western District of Michigan.

On January 10, 1961, petitioner was committed to the State Hospital for Mentally 111, Kalamazoo, Michigan, on his sister’s petition.

On August 12, 1961, petitioner absented himself from the State Hospital without leave.

On September 25, 1961, a “Warrant for Retaking Prisoners Mandatorily Released Under Authority Section 4163, .Title 18, U.S.C.” was executed by the United States Board of Parole. On this warrant petitioner was arrested on April 25, 1962, in the Southern District of California. Petitioner was committed to the Los Angeles County Jail, and delivered to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island, California, on May 7, 1962. Then on May 9, 1962, petitioner was delivered to the United States Penitentiary at McNeil Island, Washington.

On June 7, 1962, petitioner was certified by the Board of Examiners at McNeil Island to be of unsound mind and was ordered removed to the Medical Center at Springfield, Missouri, under the provisions of Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 4241. He was received at the Medical Center on September 6, 1962, and has remained there until the present time.

In the petitions filed prior to the issuance of this Court’s order to show cause, petitioner challenged the legality of his detention on the contentions (1) that he was unable to be of assistance to his counsel at his revocation hearing; (2) that he was not “rearraigned before a U. S. District Judge or a U. S. Commissioner” upon .his arrest for violation of his conditional release; (3) that because he was in the State Hospital at Kalamazoo, Michigan, undergoing treatment for insanity when he absented himself, he could not be held accountable for violation of his conditional release in the manner alleged; and (4) that his conditional release was “dropped” upon his acceptance by the State either by the [740]*740judge who allegedly committed him to the state institution or by his conditional release officer.

In the documents received since the issuance of this Court’s order to show cause, the petitioner challenges the legality of his detention on the additional contention that his maximum expiration date was March 31, 1963.

It is clear from the response to the order to show cause and the exhibits attached thereto that petitioner has not yet had a revocation hearing and that therefore the first contention set forth above is not factually meritorious.

Petitioner’s second.- contention, that he was not arraigned before a United States District Judge or Commissioner upon arrest for the alleged violation of his conditional release, is without merit since he has no such right. Wright v. Settle (C.A. 8), 293 F.2d 317, l. c. 318. And see authorities cited infra under petitioner’s third contention in support of the proposition that revocation of a conditional release is a matter ordinarily subject to administrative rather than judicial process.

Petitioner’s third contention, that he cannot be held accountable for any violation of his conditional release by reason of his absence from the Michigan State Hospital for the Mentally 111, or by reason of any action or inaction subsequent to his absence because of his insanity at such times, may not be without merit. However, under ordinary circumstances, the question of whether or not petitioner has violated the terms of his conditional release (or parole) is to be decided by the Board of Parole and not by the courts. Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 4207; Wright v. Settle (C.A. 8), 293 F.2d 317, l. c. 319; Washington v. Hagan (C.A. 3), 287 F.2d 332, l. c. 334, cert. denied, 366 U.S. 970, 81 S.Ct. 1934, 6 L.Ed.2d 1259; Nave v. Bell (C.A. 6), 180 F.2d 198, l. c. 198-199 and cases there cited; Gibson v. Markley (S.D.Ind.), 205 F.Supp. 742, l. c. 743-744.

Petitioner’s fourth contention, that his conditional release was “dropped” either by the state judge who allegedly committed him or his conditional release officer upon his commitment to the Michigan State Mental Hospital at Kalamazoo, is likewise without merit for the reason that neither of the named officers had such authority. The mandatory provision for deductions from the term of sentence known as “Good Time Allowances” appears in Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 4161. These deductions may be characterized as a “commutation of time for good conduct.” Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 4162. (Emphasis added.) The deductions result in the prisoner’s being mandatorily “released at the expiration of his term of sentence less the time deducted for good conduct.” Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 4163. Section 4164

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Bluebook (online)
218 F. Supp. 738, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holliday-v-settle-mowd-1963.