Wills v. United States Parole Commission

882 F. Supp. 2d 60, 2012 WL 3126780, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106163
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJuly 31, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 2011-1464
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 882 F. Supp. 2d 60 (Wills v. United States Parole Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wills v. United States Parole Commission, 882 F. Supp. 2d 60, 2012 WL 3126780, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106163 (D.D.C. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BERYL A. HOWELL, District Judge.

Plaintiff Joe Wills has never been convicted of a sex offense. Yet, after serving time in prison following a conviction for two misdemeanor drug offenses, he was informed that the United States Parole Commission (“Parole Commission”) had imposed a “Special Sex Offender Aftercare Condition” (“SOA”) on his supervised re *63 lease. The SOA, which he was given no opportunity to appeal, required him to participate in mental health treatment, with a focus on long-term sex offender testing and treatment. A requirement of the SOA was that the plaintiff was “expected to acknowledge [his] need for treatment.” Compl. ¶37. While undergoing sex offender treatment as part of his supervised release, the plaintiff was convicted of drug possession and served additional time in prison. Following his release from prison, the Parole Commission re-imposed the SOA at the request of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia (“CSOSA”). The plaintiff then brought suit against the Parole Commission and CSOSA (collectively, “the defendants”) alleging violations of the “reasonably related” standards for supervised release conditions set forth in D.C.Code § 24-403.01(b)(6) and 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d) as well as the plaintiffs Fifth Amendment right to substantive and procedural due process and his First Amendment right to refrain from speaking. The plaintiff also sought preliminarily and permanently to enjoin enforcement of the SOA, which he argues is “not only unnecessary to [his] rehabilitation, but is actively impeding it.” Compl. ¶ 10.

Shortly after the plaintiff filed his Complaint, the Parole Commission withdrew the SOA from the plaintiffs supervised release. The plaintiff then moved for partial summary judgment on his claim that the Parole Commission violated his Fifth Amendment right to procedural due process by imposing the SOA without providing the plaintiff adequate process. The defendants subsequently moved to dismiss this action for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the case is now moot following the withdrawal of the SOA. For the reasons explained below, the Court denies the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss and grants the plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Supervised Release in the District of Columbia

Individuals, like the plaintiff, who are subject to supervised release in the District of Columbia are “subject to the authority of the United States Parole Commission until completion of the term of supervised release.” D.C.Code § 24-403.01(b)(6). The Parole Commission has “the same authority” over the District of Columbia’s supervised releasees “as is vested in the United States District Courts by 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)-©.” Id.

The Parole Commission may impose special conditions on a period of supervised release, so long as those conditions meet four requirements: “(1) the conditions must be ‘reasonably related’ to the nature and circumstances of the supervisee’s instant offense; (2) they must be ‘reasonably related’ to the supervisee’s history and characteristics; (3) they must be ‘reasonably related’ to the sentencing goals of deterrence, protection of the public, and rehabilitation; and (4) they must ‘involve! ] no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary’ to achieve those same sentencing goals.” Compl. ¶ 25 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)).

CSOSA is responsible for “supervising] any offender who is released from imprisonment for any term of supervised release imposed by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.” D.C.Code § 24-133(c)(2).

B. Special Conditions Imposed on the Plaintiffs Supervised Release

The plaintiff is an indigent and unemployed resident of the District of Columbia *64 serving a 52-month period of supervised release, set to expire on or about April 1, 2015. Compl. ¶¶ 3, 9,19.

The plaintiff, who has no home of his own and depends on his mother and brother for support, has never been convicted of a sex offense. In 1984, 28 years ago, when the plaintiff was 26 years of age, he was accused, but not convicted, of sexual misconduct when he was charged in the D.C. Superior Court with assault with intent to rape. In that case, the plaintiff entered a guilty plea to two misdemeanor offenses: attempted second degree burglary and theft of property of a value less than $250. Id. ¶ 28. The government, in turn, dismissed the greater counts of second degree burglary and felony theft, and dismissed entirely the count for assault with intent to rape. Id. The plaintiff claims that, since 1984, he “has never again been accused of any charge that even hinted at sexual misconduct or sexual deviance.” Id. ¶ 30.

Over 20 years after the government dropped the assault with intent to rape charge, on November 29, 2007, the plaintiff pled guilty in D.C. Superior Court to two misdemeanor counts: one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Id. ¶ 32. The misdemeanor offenses in no way related to sexual misconduct. For those drug offenses, the plaintiff was sentenced to 14 months of incarceration followed by 5 years of supervised release. Id. As noted, this lawsuit relates to a condition imposed on the plaintiffs supervised release, namely the SOA.

1. Notice of the SOA Imposed on Supervised Release

On January 30, 2009, the day he was released from the halfway house, the plaintiff was informed in writing that the Parole Commission was imposing a SOA as a condition of his supervised release. Id. ¶¶ 36, 38. Although the notice informed the plaintiff of the SOA, he was unable to read the notice at the time due to his illiteracy. Id. ¶ 38. While the Parole Commission provided the plaintiff written notice of the SOA, CSOSA was also apparently still not aware of the condition. Upon his release from the halfway house, CSOSA placed the plaintiff into a “General Supervision Unit” rather than the “Sex Offender Unit,” which is for individuals subject to the SOA. Id. ¶ 36.

In February of 2009, CSOSA transferred the plaintiff to its Sex Offender Unit for his supervised release supervision. Id. ¶ 40. This transfer allegedly came as a surprise to the plaintiff, who had not been able to read the notice given to him on January 30, 2009. Id. ¶ 41 (quoting Ex. 7) (“Mr. Wills is confronted with his NOA dated 1/6/09 and the special conditions added.

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Related

Chandler v. United States Parole Commission
60 F. Supp. 3d 205 (District of Columbia, 2014)
Doe v. United States Parole Commission
958 F. Supp. 2d 254 (District of Columbia, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
882 F. Supp. 2d 60, 2012 WL 3126780, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wills-v-united-states-parole-commission-dcd-2012.