Jefferson v. Stancil

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Decided: June 23, 2026
• Docket: 25-1153
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT June 23, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court JUSTIN A. JEFFERSON,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. No. 25-1153 (D.C. No. 1:23-CV-01773-PAB-NRN) MOSES ANDRE STANCIL, Director of (D. Colo.) the State of Colorado Department of Corrections; CHRIS LOBANOV- ROSTOVSKY, Head of the Sex Offender Management Board, in his official capacity; AMANDA RETTING, Head of the Sex Offender Management Board, in his official capacity; SLOBHAN BARTLOW, Warden of the Fremont Correctional Facility, in his official capacity; SHANNON FOLTZ, Therapist at Fremont Correctional Facility, in her official capacity; JAMES BAILEY, Therapist at Fremont Correctional Facility, in his official capacity; J.R. HALL, Head of the Parole Board, in their official capacity,

Defendants - Appellees. _________________________________

ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined *

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 2

Before McHUGH, BALDOCK, and ROSSMAN, Circuit Judges. _________________________________

Justin A. Jefferson appeals from the dismissal of his pro se action challenging

several policies of the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) Sex Offender

Treatment and Monitoring Program (SOTMP). The district court dismissed the

action for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). We

have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm.

I

Jefferson is serving an indeterminate sentence of ten years to life under

Colorado’s Sex Offender Lifetime Supervision Act, Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-1.3-1001

to -1012. A magistrate judge distilled the allegations in the third amended complaint

into three claims averring that CDOC officials violated Jefferson’s: 1) Fourteenth

Amendment rights by conditioning his eligibility for parole on his participation in

SOTMP and by denying him enrollment in 2020, while he was appealing his

convictions; 2) Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination by

requiring that he admit guilt, submit to a polygraph examination, and disclose his

complete sexual history; and 3) First Amendment rights by prohibiting him from

possessing sexually explicit material.

The magistrate judge recommended that the action be dismissed. The

magistrate judge first observed that prison policies impinging on constitutional rights,

including SOTMP policies conditioning Jefferson’s enrollment on his willingness

and ability to comply with SOTMP rules, are permissible if they are reasonably

2 Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 3

related to legitimate penological interests. See R. vol. I at 235-36 (citing Turner v.

Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987)).

But the magistrate judge determined Jefferson lacked standing to assert his

Fourteenth Amendment claim because he sought injunctive relief for the alleged

denial of enrollment in 2020, yet he filed this lawsuit in 2023, after he had already

enrolled in SOTMP, admitted guilt, and concluded his appeal. The magistrate judge

noted that, although he sought monetary damages against defendants Folz and Bailey,

his only relevant allegations indicated they compelled him to submit a reenrollment

form in 2023, see R. vol. I at 147, and he was not denied treatment at that time.

As for the remaining claims, the magistrate judge determined Jefferson failed

to allege facts showing SOTMP’s policies requiring him to admit guilt, submit to a

polygraph examination, and disclose his sexual history were not rationally related to

a legitimate penological interest. The magistrate judge reached the same conclusion

regarding Jefferson’s First Amendment claim: he failed to allege facts showing the

restrictions on his possession of sexually explicit materials were not reasonably

related to legitimate penological interests.

Over Jefferson’s objections, the district court adopted the magistrate judge’s

report and recommendation and dismissed the action. Jefferson appealed.

II

We review de novo the district court’s dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6). Brown

v. City of Tulsa, 124 F.4th 1251, 1263 (10th Cir. 2025). “To survive a Rule 12(b)(6)

motion, the complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state

3 Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 4

a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

The plausibility standard requires that “the complaint . . . plead factual content that

allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the

misconduct alleged.” Clinton v. Sec. Benefit Life Ins. Co., 63 F.4th 1264, 1275

(10th Cir. 2023) (internal quotation marks omitted). There must be factual

allegations to plausibly infer that the SOTMP policies are not reasonably related to

any legitimate penological interest. See Al-Owhali v. Holder, 687 F.3d 1236, 1240

(10th Cir. 2012). Although we afford Jefferson’s pro se materials a liberal

construction, we “cannot take on the responsibility of serving as [his] attorney in

constructing arguments and searching the record.” Garrett v. Selby Connor Maddux

& Janer, 425 F.3d 836, 840 (10th Cir. 2005).

A. Fourteenth Amendment Denial of SOTMP Enrollment

Jefferson contends the district court incorrectly dismissed his Fourteenth

Amendment claim under Turner. But the district court dismissed the Fourteenth

Amendment claim for lack of standing. Because Jefferson does not challenge the

district court’s standing analysis, we affirm the dismissal of this claim. See Nixon v.

City & Cnty. of Denv., 784 F.3d 1364, 1369 (10th Cir. 2015) (affirming dismissal of

claim where appellant failed to challenge the basis for the district court’s dismissal).

B. Fifth Amendment Self-Incrimination

Jefferson also contends the district court erred in dismissing his Fifth

Amendment claim challenging SOTMP policies conditioning his treatment on

him admitting guilt, submitting to a polygraph examination, and disclosing his

4 Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 5

complete sexual history. He says these policies violate his privilege against

compelled self-incrimination.

The Fifth Amendment provides that “[n]o person shall . . . be compelled in any

criminal case to be a witness against himself.” U.S. Const. amend. V. But “[w]hat

might be viewed as an unreasonable infringement of a fundamental constitutional

right were it to occur outside of prison may be valid in prison as long as the

infringement is reasonably related to legitimate penological objectives, which include

rehabilitation, deterrence and security.” Mosier v. Maynard, 937 F.2d 1521, 1525

(10th Cir. 1991). Rehabilitation of sex offenders is a legitimate penological interest.

McKune v. Lile, 536 U.S. 24, 36 (2002). Indeed, “[t]he state’s interest in

rehabilitating sex offenders is a valid one, and the requirement for admission of

responsibility is considered a legitimate part of the rehabilitative process.” Searcy v.

Simmons, 299 F.3d 1220, 1228 (10th Cir. 2002); see also McKune, 536 U.S. at 33

(“When convicted sex offenders reenter society, they are much more likely than any

other type of offender to be rearrested for a new rape or sexual assault. States thus

have a vital interest in rehabilitating convicted sex offenders.” (citation omitted)).

Here, the challenged policies all advance the state’s legitimate penological

interest in rehabilitating Jefferson as a convicted sex offender, and Jefferson did not

plead any facts suggesting otherwise. He alleged the SOTMP policies requiring him

to admit guilt, submit to a polygraph examination, and disclose his complete sexual

history as a condition of treatment constitute compulsion because he “faces a penalty

significantly more serious than that” in McKune—viz., denial of treatment and the

5 Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 6

loss of parole eligibility. R. vol. I at 149-50. In McKune, the Court considered a

similar Fifth Amendment claim that an inmate was compelled to incriminate himself

under threat of lost privileges and better housing if he refused to admit responsibility

for his crimes, disclose his complete sexual history, and submit to a polygraph

examination to verify the accuracy and completeness of his responses. 536 U.S. at

30-31. Under those circumstances, a plurality of the Court upheld the rehabilitative

scheme, explaining that “[a]cceptance of responsibility . . . demonstrates that an

offender is ready and willing to admit his crime and to enter the correctional system

in a frame of mind that affords hope for success in rehabilitation over a shorter period

of time than might otherwise be necessary.” Id. at 36-37 (internal quotation marks

omitted).

McKune recognized that requiring sex offenders to admit guilt, disclose their

sexual histories, and submit to a polygraph examination advance the state’s interest

in rehabilitation. Id. at 48. Although Jefferson denies the efficacy of treatment,

“[t]herapists and correctional officers widely agree that clinical rehabilitative

programs can enable sex offenders to manage their impulses and in this way reduce

recidivism.” Id. at 33. That Jefferson could elect to voluntarily forego his eligibility

for discretionary parole by choosing to reject SOTMP’s rules does not diminish the

state’s interest in his rehabilitation, nor does it reflect compulsion. See Searcy,

299 F.3d at 1226 (recognizing state’s interest in rehabilitation notwithstanding

inmate’s lost opportunity to earn discretionary good-time credits if he refused to

admit guilt); see also Nowak v. Suthers, 320 P.3d 340, 348 (Colo. 2014) (“The grant

6 Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 7

of parole [in Colorado] is a privilege, not a right.”). Any impact on Jefferson’s

parole eligibility is “simply not the result of his refusal to incriminate himself, but

[rather is] a consequence of his inability to complete rehabilitation.” Searcy,

299 F.3d at 1227.

Jefferson also contends that requiring him to disclose his complete sexual

history could result in his prosecution for additional crimes, demonstrating his risk of

self-incrimination. But the state’s policy of requiring sex offenders to disclose their

sexual histories, even with the potential for incrimination, “is one central to its

mission of rehabilitating sex offenders,” Searcy, 299 F.3d at 1227; see also McKune,

536 U.S. at 34 (affirming the validity of the Kansas rehabilitative scheme, even

though “Kansas does not offer legal immunity from prosecution based on any

statements made in the course of [treatment]”). Thus, the district court correctly

dismissed this claim because Jefferson failed to plead any facts plausibly alleging

that SOTMP policies are not reasonably related to the state’s legitimate penological

interest in rehabilitating sex offenders.

C. First Amendment Access to Sexually Explicit Materials

Finally, Jefferson disputes the dismissal of his First Amendment claim, which

challenged SOTMP’s prohibition on his access to sexually explicit materials. The

district court declined to consider Jefferson’s objection to the magistrate judge’s

decision, ruling it was not sufficiently specific to preserve review under our firm

waiver rule. See United States v. B.N.M., 107 F.4th 1152, 1168 (10th Cir. 2024)

(explaining that “failure to timely object to a magistrate’s recommendations waives

7 Appellate Case: 25-1153 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 06/23/2026 Page: 8

appellate review of both factual and legal questions,” and “only an objection that is

sufficiently specific to focus the district court’s attention on the factual and legal

issues that are truly in dispute is sufficient” (brackets and internal quotation marks

omitted)). Jefferson merely stated that he “preserve[d]” his claim “to be addressed

by the ruling authority of the Supreme Court at such time.” R. vol. I at 252.

On appeal, Jefferson offers various arguments ostensibly supporting the merits

of his claim, but he does not challenge the district court’s application of the firm

waiver rule. As a result, we decline to consider the district court’s dismissal.

See Nixon, 784 F.3d at 1369.

III

The district court’s judgment is affirmed. Jefferson’s motion for clarification,

Dkt. No. 36, which seeks to certify to the Supreme Court a question of Turner’s

continuing validity, is denied.

Entered for the Court

Bobby R. Baldock Circuit Judge