Orozco v. Silva et al
Filing
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ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION and denying 3 Motion for Stay and Abeyance. Signed by Judge Anthony J. Battaglia on 5/23/12.(All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(cge)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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Petitioner,
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v.
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E. SILVA, Cal Institution Prison Official; M. )
TAMAYO, Cal Institution Gang Investigation )
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Prison Official; L. S. MCWEN, Warden of
Cal; MATTHEW CATE, Acting Director of )
CDCR; K. HARRIS, Attorney General of the
State of California.
JOHNNY OROZCO,
Case No. 11-cv-2663-AJB (BLM)
ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND
RECOMMENDATION AND DENYING
MOTION FOR STAY AND ABEYANCE
[Doc. Nos. 3, 8]
Respondent.
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On November 14, 2011, Petitioner, a state prisoner appearing pro se and in forma pauperis, filed
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a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. (Doc. No. 1.) Also on November 14, 2011, Petitioner filed a
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request for stay and abeyance so that he may exhaust his administrative appeal process regarding a claim
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he believes to be meritorious and directly related to his Petition. (Doc. No. 3.) Respondents timely filed
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their opposition to Petitioner’s motion on December 20, 2011. (Doc. No. 6.) Petitioner timely filed his
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reply on January 3, 2012. (Doc. No. 7.) On January 30, 2012, Magistrate Judge Major issued her report
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and recommendation (the “R&R”), recommending that the motion be denied. (Doc. No. 8.) The R&R
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also permitted the parties to file objections to the R&R no later than February 21, 2012. On February 16,
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2012, Petitioner filed his objections to the R&R, which the Court considered before issuing this Order.
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11-cv-2663
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A district court has jurisdiction to review a Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation on
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dispositive matters. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b). “The district judge must determine de novo any part of the
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magistrate judge's disposition that has been properly objected to.” Id. “A judge of the court may accept,
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reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.”
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28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The Court reviews de novo those portions of the R&R to which specific written
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objection is made. United States v. Reyna–Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc). “The
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statute makes it clear that the district judge must review the magistrate judge's findings and recommen-
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dations de novo if objection is made, but not otherwise.” Id. When no objections are filed, the Court
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need not review de novo the R&R. Wang v. Masaitis, 416 F.3d 992, 1000 n.13 (9th Cir. 2005).
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Discussion
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In his objections to the R&R, Petitioner reiterates his argument that he has “a federally protected
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liberty interest in not having earned credits revoked through prison disciplinary proceedings without due
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process.” (Doc. No. 9 at 6.) However, in the R&R, Magistrate Judge Major explained that Petitioner
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asserts errors of state law, but fails to state a cognizable federal habeas question. (Doc. No. 8 at 6.) The
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R&R explains that “to present a cognizable federal habeas corpus claim under § 2254, a state prisoner
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must allege both that he is in custody pursuant to a judgment of the state court and that he is in custody
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in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” Id. at 5. Magistrate Judge Major
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also explains that federal habeas corpus relief does not lie for errors of state law. Id. (citing Swarthout v.
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Cooke, 131 S. Ct. 859, 861 (2011) (per curiam)). Since Petitioner’s claim only alleges that California
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Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“CDCR”) officials erroneously applied state law,
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Magistrate Judge Major found that Petitioner had not raised a federal question and that his claim was
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meritless. (Doc. No. 8 at 6.) In his objections, Petitioner argues that he “has raised a significant federal
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question, with clearly established federal law showing its violation for the court to review.” (Doc. No. 9
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at 6.) This is the extent of Petitioner’s argument, and since he provides no case law or legal authority to
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back up his assertion, it appears to be Petitioner’s opinion and not a legal theory. Petitioner also seems
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to be arguing that the state law is not considered a federal question because the law is too “new” and no
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federal “litigation challenges” have reached the federal courts yet. Id. This argument once again contains
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no legal authority to support it and appears to be Petitioner’s opinion only. Even if this argument had
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merit, it would seem to support Magistrate Judge Major’s conclusion that Petitioner’s claim is one of
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state law. This Court agrees with Magistrate Judge Major’s findings. Petitioner’s claim is not a federal
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question and is therefore meritless.
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A.
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Due Process Violation
Petitioner objects to the R&R’s finding that his due process claim is without merit. (Doc. No. 9
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at 7.) In Petitioner’s motion for stay and abeyance, he claims that he was not afforded due process when
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he was validated as a member of a prison gang. (Doc. No. 3 at 13.) Because of that validation, Petitioner
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is now ineligible to earn credits that he would have normally received. Id. at 15. These credits would
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have allowed him to be paroled earlier. Id. In Greenholtz v. Inmates of Neb. Penal and Corr. Complex,
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the U.S. Supreme Court held that “to determine whether due process requirements apply in the first
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place, we must look not to the weight but to the nature of the interest at stake.” 442 U.S. 1, 7 (1979).
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Therefore, to obtain a predictable right, “a person must clearly have more than an abstract need or desire
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for it. He must have more than a unilateral expectation of it. He must, instead, have a legitimate claim of
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entitlement to it.” Id. And as the R&R explained, “there is no right under the Federal Constitution to be
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conditionally released before the expiration of a valid sentence, and the states are under no duty to offer
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parole to their prisoners.” (Doc. No. 8 at 7 (citing Greenholtz, 442 U.S. at 7)). Credit is a privilege, not a
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right. Id. (citing Cal. Penal Code § 2933(c) (West 2011)). Therefore, Magistrate Judge Major properly
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found Petitioner’s due process claim to be meritless. Id.
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Petitioner also argues that his due process rights were violated by restating his original argument
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that he has committed no “misconduct” which would place him in a Segregated Housing Unit (“SHU”)
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and make him ineligible to earn credits under 15 C.C.R. § 3043.4(b). (Doc. No. 9 at 6 n.5.) However, as
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explained in the R&R, Petitioner misunderstands section 3043.4(b). (Doc. No. 8 at 7 n.3.) “The
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regulation at issue is written in the disjunctive such that it addresses inmates who are placed in the SHU
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for misconduct described in subsection (c) or upon validation as a prison gang member or associate.” Id.
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Therefore, validation as a prison gang associate results in an inmate’s placement in the SHU; an inmate
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need not have committed any other additional misconduct. Id. The Court agrees with Magistrate Judge
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Major on this issue.
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Finally, Petitioner argues that the state has provided him with a statutory right to credits. (Doc.
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No. 9 at 11.) Petitioner is correct that in Wolff v. McDonnell, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a
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Nebraskan statute gave Nebraskan inmates a statutory right to good-time credit. 418 U.S. 539, 557
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(1974). Petitioner argues that the California statute which allows inmates to earn credits (Cal. Penal
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Code § 2933) is so similar to the Nebraskan statute in Wolff that it creates a statutory right. (Doc. No. 9
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at 11.) However, the Ninth Circuit has already discussed this issue in Toussaint v. McCarthy, 801 F.2d
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1080, 1095 (9th Cir. 1986), abrogated in part on other grounds in Sandin v. Connor, 515 U.S. 471
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(1995). In Toussaint, the Ninth Circuit held that section 2933 created no statutory right to credits: “In
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sum, section 2933 merely creates a possibility of early release; it does not create a constitutionally
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protected liberty interest.” Id. For all of these reasons, the Court agrees with Magistrate Judge Major
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that Petitioner’s due process claim is without merit.
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B.
Ex Post Facto Violation
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Petitioner next objects to the R&R’s findings that 15 C.C.R. § 3043.4(b) was not applied
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retroactively to Petitioner, and that therefore Petitioner’s ex post facto claim is meritless. (Doc. No. 9 at
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14.) “The Ex Post Facto Clause prohibits laws that retroactively increase the penalty for a crime.” Moor
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v. Palmer, 603 F.3d 658, 663 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Cal. Dep’t of Corr. V. Morales, 514 U.S. 499, 504
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(1995)).
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In his objections, Petitioner simply restates his argument that the regulation is applied retroac-
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tively to him because the regulation was not in existence when he was convicted nearly ten years ago.
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The regulation was enacted in 2010, eight years after Petitioner was convicted. However, as the R&R
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explains, “Petitioner is correct when he contends that the current version of the regulation was not in
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existence at the time of his criminal conviction, however, this regulation does not apply to the crime(s)
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for which petitioner was convicted. Rather, this regulation applies to Petitioner’s recent validation as a
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prison gang associate, an event that occurred after the regulation’s enactment.” (Doc. No. 8 at 8.) Thus,
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despite Petitioner’s assertions to the contrary, the state regulation was not retroactively applied to him.
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Petitioner claims he was charged with being a prison gang associate in November 2009, but the
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regulation was not enacted until January 25, 2010. (Doc. No. 9 at 15.) Petitioner is correct that 15
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C.C.R. § 3043.4(b) was not enacted until January 25, 2010. However, according to Petitioner’s own
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exhibits in his motion for stay and abeyance, he was not validated as a prison gang associate until
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January 27, 2010. Mot. Stay at 8, 9, 11, 12, 17. Upon Petitioner’s validation, two days after the
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enactment of the regulation, the regulation was applied to him and he became ineligible to earn credits.
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Thus, the regulation at issue here was not retroactively applied to Petitioner. As the R&R explains, the
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impact of the regulation on Petitioner’s ability to earn credits does not establish the requisite “retroac-
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tive” and “detrimental” effect on the duration of his confinement to constitute an ex post facto violation.
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(Doc. No. 8 at 9.) “Although Petitioner may have lost the opportunity to earn credits while in the SHU,
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the effect of this, if any, on the duration of his confinement is speculative.” Id. This Court agrees with
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Magistrate Judge Major’s findings that section 3043.4(b) was not applied retroactively and Petitioner’s
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ex post facto violation claim is meritless.
Having reviewed the R&R, the Court finds it to be correct, and ADOPTS it in full. Petitioner’s
motion for stay and abeyance is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: May 23, 2012
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Hon. Anthony J. Battaglia
U.S. District Judge
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