Simon v. Stalder

994 So. 2d 154, 2008 WL 4870096
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 31, 2008
Docket2008 CA 0930
StatusPublished

This text of 994 So. 2d 154 (Simon v. Stalder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Simon v. Stalder, 994 So. 2d 154, 2008 WL 4870096 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

CHARLES N. SIMON, JR.
v.
RICHARD L. STALDER, SECRETARY LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND CORRECTIONS

No. 2008 CA 0930.

Court of Appeals of Louisiana, First Circuit.

October 31, 2008.
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

CHARLES N. SIMON, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant In Proper Person.

WILLIAM KLINE, Attorney for Defendant-Appellee Richard L. Stalder, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Public, Safety and Corrections.

Before: PARRO, McCLENDON, and WELCH, JJ.

PARRO, J.

Charles N. Simon, Jr., an inmate in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPSC) at Allen Correctional Institute, appeals a judgment dismissing his petition for an emergency writ of habeas corpus. We affirm the judgment and render this opinion in accordance with Rule 2-16.2(5) and (6) of the Uniform Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal.

Simon filed this claim for emergency habeas relief in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court (19th JDC), claiming that DPSC's application of the 1995 amendment of LSA-R.S. 15:571.4 to his accumulation of good-time credit constituted an unconstitutional ex post facto law and impairment of the obligation of contracts and therefore, he was entitled to immediate release. He further claimed that because he was seeking habeas corpus relief, he was not required to exhaust his administrative remedies before filing suit, nor was his suit subject to the screening requirements of LSA-R.S. 15:1178 and 1188. Simon alleged that in September 1992, he was sentenced to twenty years at hard labor pursuant to a plea agreement. That agreement included his eligibility for good-time credit in accordance with Act 138, the good-time law in effect when he entered into the plea agreement.[1] In December 1993, Simon opted to earn double good-time credit in lieu of incentive wages.[2] Louisiana Revised Statute 15:571.4(B)(3) was amended in 1995 by Act 980,[3] which allowed DPSC to sanction inmates with the forfeiture of up to 180 days of good-time credit for certain violations of its rules. Before this amendment, forfeiture was limited to the amount of good-time credit the inmate had earned during the month, a maximum of 30 days. Simon alleged that since 1995, DPSC had applied the amended forfeiture provisions to his numerous disciplinary infractions, resulting in the improper forfeiture of 1,814 days of accumulated good-time credit. He claimed that had these unconstitutional penalties not been imposed, he would already have been released from custody. Simon claimed the application of the amended statute to his prison sentence was a breach of his plea agreement and his selection of the option of receiving double good-time credit in lieu of incentive wages, thus impairing the obligation of contracts. He further claimed that as applied to him, it was also an ex post facto law, because the removal of good-time credit pursuant to the later-enacted law disadvantaged him by altering the consequences of a crime already completed and changing the quantum of his punishment.

Despite Simon's assertion that his petition was not subject to pre-screening by a commissioner, his claims were assigned to the commissioner for review,[4] who determined that because they were based on the alleged unconstitutionality of a statute that had never been declared unconstitutional, his claims did not meet this court's criteria for classification as a true writ of habeas corpus. See Madison v. Ward, 00-2842 (La. App. 1st Cir. 7/3/02), 825 So.2d 1245, 1251 (en banc); Bernard v. Louisiana Dep't of Pub. Safety and Corr., 00-1912 (La. App. 1st Cir. 9/20/02), 843 So.2d 413, 414 (on rehearing), writ denied, 02-2613 (La. 1/9/04), 862 So.2d 975; Ferrington v. Louisiana Bd. of Parole, 03-2093 (La. App. 1st Cir. 6/25/04), 886 So.2d 455, 457-58. The commissioner further concluded that because Simon's petition alleged an error in time computation, he was required to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a petition for judicial review. Madison, 825 So.2d at 1255. After examining the facts and the law applicable to Simon's claims, the commissioner recommended that his petition be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action for habeas relief and for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to his failure to exhaust administrative remedies. On October 22, 2007, the district court signed a judgment in conformity with that recommendation, and this appeal followed.

We have examined the record and agree with the well-written analysis of the facts and law set out in the commissioner's screening report, which was adopted by the district court as its reasons, a copy of which is attached. The findings of fact and conclusions of law in that report adequately explain the judgment, and we find no legal error in the district court's judgment. Accordingly, we affirm that judgment and assess all costs of this appeal to Simon.

AFFIRMED.

COMMISSIONER'S SCREENING REPORT

The Petitioner, an inmate in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, filed this suit as a claim for "emergency habeas relief', rather than as an appeal of an identified disciplinary appeal or ARP grievance, as required by R.S. 15:1171 et seq for this Court to have jurisdiction. He argues that an inmate overdue for release is not required to exhaust administrative remedies before filing a habeas complaint and that a petition for habeas corpus is not subject to screening pursuant to R.S. 15:1178 and R.S. 15:1188.[1] While these assumptions are true, that assertion presumes a fact not found herein and that is that the petition presents a true habeas claim—one involving illegality of custody. Here, the Petitioner asserts the unconstitutionality of the 1995 amendment of R.S. 15:571.4 as it applies to one sentenced prior to the amendment. However, the First Circuit noted that it has consistently held that when an inmate challenges his custody based on the unconstitutionality of a statute that has never been declared unconstitutional, the triggering event for a habeas corpus claim, i.e., the application of a statute declared to be unconstitutional, has not occurred and the inmate's claim does not meet the criteria for classification as a true writ of habeas corpus.[2]

Based on the facts alleged, I find that this petition does not present an actual habeas complaint, as stated hereinafter, and further, that even if the CARP and PLRA do not apply— which I do not suggest—the matter may be dismissed under the Court's authority to find no cause of action stated pursuant to Art. 927 C.C.P.[3]

For reasons stated below, I suggest dismissal of this suit for failure to state a cause of action for habeas relief and lack of subject matter for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

This report is issued pursuant to screening requirements for the Court's de novo consideration and final adjudication without service on the Defendant.

ANALYSIS OF THE FACTS AND LAW

The Petitioner states that he was sentenced to 20 years in the penitentiary in September, 1992.[4] It is apparent from the date that the Petitioner has not served his full sentence, and according to his record attached to his petition, he is due for good time release in 2008. That record shows that the Petitioner would have been due for good time release in 2001 had he earned all and forfeited none of the good time credits for which he was eligible from 1992. However, the Petitioner, over the past 15 years has, according to his records, forfeited significant good time credits for numerous prison rule violations.

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994 So. 2d 154, 2008 WL 4870096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/simon-v-stalder-lactapp-2008.