Mac Aboy v. Klecka

22 F. Supp. 960, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2326
District Court, D. Maryland·Decided March 14, 1938·No. No. 6380,·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

CHESNUT, District Judge.

The petitioner for habeas corpus in this case is in the custody of the United States Marshal for the District of Maryland, under a warrant issued by the Chairman of the United States Parole Board for his return to the United States Northeastern Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pa., for alleged breach of the conditions of his release from that institution on September 18, 1937. The warrant is authorized by the United States Code, title 18, §§ 717 and 723c, 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 717 "and 723c, the latter being from the Act of May 13, 1930, c. 255, § 3. Its formal sufficiency has not been challenged here. See United States ex rel. Rowe v. Nicholson, 4 Cir., 78 F.2d 468, certiorari denied Rowe v. Nicholson, 296 U.S. 573, 56 S.Ct. 118, 80 L.Ed. 405; Jarman v. United States, 4 Cir., 92 F.2d 309.

The warrant recites that Charles Mac Aboy “was sentenced by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to serve a sentence of two to five years for the crime of first degree murder; was released conditionally from the Northeastern ■Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Penna., on the 18th of September, 1937,” and that “reliable information has been presented to the undersigned member of this Board that said prisoner named in this warrant has violated the conditions of his release and is therefore deemed to be a fugitive from justice.” The [961] warrant commands the officer to whom it is addressed to take the said Charles MacAboy “and him safely return to the institution hereinafter designated.” The warrant does not itself designate the institution to which the prisoner is to be returned, but it was understood at the hearing that the marshal had instructions from the parole board to return the prisoner to Lewisburg, Pa.

It will be noted that the reason for the arrest and return of the prisoner is the alleged violation of his parole. Upon his return to the designated institution he will be entitled to a prompt hearing to be given by the parole board as to whether he should be released or his parole revoked and his imprisonment continued until the expiration of the terms for which he was sentenced. U.S.C.A. title 18, § 719. United States ex rel. Rowe v. Nicholson, 78 F.2d 468, supra.

As it appears from the warrant that the prisoner was only conditionally released from Lewisburg and as it is alleged that he has violated his parole and is therefore subject to reimprisonment, and as the hearing on the charge has not been held, it is doubtful whether the prisoner in this application for habeas corpus has a right to go behind the recitals in the warrant; because it would seem clear enough that the hearing to which he is entitled on the charge of violation of parole cannot be given by this court but must be given by the parole board. Furthermore, the petitioner has not undertaken to challenge the correctness of the recitals in the warrant, although he apparently contends that the papers that he signed evidencing his conditional release from Lewisburg were signed under duress in that he protested at the time he signed them that he should have been unconditionally released. Neither the warden at Lewis-burg nor the parole board is a party to the proceeding in this court and it is not apparent how this issue could be properly here tried in their absence.

But if the prisoner’s contention were open to him at this time, I am not persuaded that it is sound. Briefly stated, the contention of his counsel is that on September 18, 1937, his original sentence for the maximum five years, after making deduction for good time allowance while in prison, terminated on September 18, 1937, and that he was then entitled to be unconditionally released and not merely conditionally released. As to this, it will be noted that title 18 U.S.C.A., § 716b, is expressly to the contrary. See Zerbst, Warden v. Kidwell, 5 Cir., 92 F.2d 756. Petitioner further contends that section 716b is not applicable to his case because he was sentenced in the District of Columbia for a violation of the laws of the District which he contends was not an offense against the United States as such, but only against the Code of the District of Columbia, and therefore he is not a “United States prisoner” within the meaning of section 716b. The verbal distinction is not sound. Arnstein v. United States, 54 App.D.C. 199, 296 F. 946. Petitioner’s contention, however, goes a little farther as he says that he was sentenced under a particular Act of Congress for the District of Columbia approved July 15, 1932, 47 Stat 697, D.C.Code, Supp. I, 1933, T. 6, § 451 et seq.; section 4, D.C.Code Supp. I, 1933, T. 6, § 454, of which he contends provides that sentences thereunder terminate unconditionally when the maximum period has been served, after deducting such time for good conduct as may be provided by law. It is not certainly clear from this last statute, when section 4 is read in connection with section 5, D.C.Code. Supp. I, 1933, T. 6, § 455, that the construction is sound; but if it be conceded that it is, counsel for the prisoner has not pointed to what good time allowance has been provided by law applicable to prisoners sentenced in the District of Columbia under the statute other than title 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 710, 710a, 711, 712, 713, and 716b, supra, dealing with the general subject as applicable to United States prisoners. It was under the authority of these sections that the petitioner was conditionally released on September 18, 1937. If the distinction that he seeks to make between United States prisoners and prisoners under sentence for violation of the Code of the District of Columbia is sound, it does not appear that he was entitled to any good time allowance at all.

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Mac Aboy v. Klecka, 22 F. Supp. 960, 1938 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2326 (D. Md. 1938).

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