Harden v. Baldwin
Filing
14
ORDER DISMISSING CASE without prejudice. Signed by Judge David R. Herndon on 11/7/2016. (tjk)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
TONY HARDEN, K-04116
Petitioner,
vs.
Case No. 16-cv-868-DRH
JOHN BALDWIN,
Respondent.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
HERNDON, District Judge:
Tony Harden, a state prisoner, has filed the instant petition for writ of
habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Harden challenges his continued
confinement as a sexually dangerous person (“SDP”) at Big Muddy River
Correctional Center, and seeks immediate release. On February 26, 2014, the
state trial court ordered his conditional release.
However, respondent (the
Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections) has failed to facilitate Harden’s
discharge from custody.
In April 1998, in Sangamon County Case Number 97-CF-1104, Harden
stipulated to being a SDP, in lieu of facing criminal prosecution (Doc. 1, pp. 1-2).
The trial judge ordered him to be confined pursuant to the Sexually Dangerous
Persons Act (“SDPA”), 725 ILLINOIS COMPILED STATUTES 205/0.01 et seq. During
his confinement, Harden was to receive treatment until such time as he was
determined to no longer be dangerous.
The petition is now before the Court for review pursuant to Rule 4 of the
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Rules Governing § 2254 Cases in United States District Courts. Rule 4 provides
that upon preliminary consideration by the district court judge, “[i]f it plainly
appears from the petition and any attached exhibits that the petitioner is not
entitled to relief in the district court, the judge must dismiss the petition and
direct the clerk to notify the petitioner.” After carefully reviewing the petition, the
Court concludes that this action is subject to dismissal.
The Petition
The instant petition raises the following grounds for relief: (1) Harden has
continued to be confined under the SDPA despite the state court’s February 26,
2014, order of conditional release (Doc. 5-1, pp. 1-6); (2) The SDP Program is
unconstitutional as applied to Harden, and violates the Americans with
Disabilities Act (“ADA”) because of its systemic failures; (3) Harden’s indefinite
confinement since the state court ordered his release violates his rights under the
Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments; (4) Harden’s ongoing confinement and
treatment as if he were a convicted prisoner amounts to cruel and unusual
punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment (Doc. 1, pp. 3-4).
Harden
names John Baldwin, the Director of the Illinois Department of Corrections
(“IDOC”), as the respondent, because Baldwin is his court-appointed guardian
under the SDPA.
Harden notes that he has filed a petition in state court for
judicial review of his case, as well as a mandamus action (Doc. 1, p. 4; Doc. 5-1,
pp. 11-17; Doc. 5-4, pp. 4-10). However, the petition does not include further
information on the status of those matters.
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Subsequent to filing the habeas action, Harden filed three motions with this
Court seeking to add exhibits to his pleading: a “Motion Submitting Evidence”
containing 91 pages of exhibits (Doc. 5), a second motion to submit evidence,
including a motion for immediate release (Doc. 8), and a third motion submitting
evidence (Doc. 13), which included a 12-page report prepared for a civil rights
case now pending before this Court under Case No. 14-cv-844-SMY-RJD, 1 in
which Harden was one of the original plaintiffs.
He also filed a motion for
declaratory and injunctive relief (Doc. 12), and another motion for immediate
release from confinement (Doc. 9).
Motions Submitting Additional Evidence (Docs. 5, 8, & 13)
In the motion at Doc. 5, Harden expands on his argument that the SDP
Program is inadequate to effect his recovery and is out of compliance with the
SDPA, because there are no transitional facilities or assistance to facilitate
homeless and indigent SDP’s to re-enter society once they have been conditionally
released or discharged (Doc. 1, p. 3; Doc. 5, p. 2). As a result, he must remain
confined indefinitely. This system violates his constitutional rights. His court
order for conditional release came after two experts found him to no longer be
dangerous (Doc. 5, p. 4). He claims that the IDOC has made no efforts to obtain
transitional housing that would comply with Harden’s conditions of release, and
his family does not have the means or the responsibility to find such housing
(although they are attempting to assist him) (Doc. 5, p. 9).
This case is Howe, et al., v. Holt, et al., Case No. 14-cv-844-SMY (S.D. Ill. filed July 25,
2014).
1
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Among the exhibits submitted along with the motion at Doc. 5 are a pro se
“Motion Requesting Court to Modify Conditions of Release,” filed in the Sangamon
County Circuit Court, Case No. 97-CF-1104, on June 18, 2015 (Doc. 5-2, pp. 1-4).
The motion requests a ruling on the constitutionality of Harden’s continued
confinement, a review of the conditions of his release, and seeks his release from
custody. On July 9, 2015, Harden, this time by counsel, filed another Motion to
Modify Conditions of Release (Doc. 5-2, pp. 5-7), requesting the court to order the
IDOC to show what efforts had been made to find an approved residence for him.
According to a letter from Harden’s counsel, the court then ordered the IDOC to
provide updates every 15 days regarding its efforts to find suitable housing for
him (Doc. 5-2, p. 12).
He includes several letters/reports submitted between
January and April 2016, documenting that the IDOC was waiting to see if his
brother would purchase a home where Harden could reside (Doc. 5-2, pp. 13-17;
Doc. 5-3, pp. 1-8).
Another exhibit consists of the aforementioned “Petition of Mandamus”
which was submitted to the Jefferson County Circuit Court on or about June 23,
2016 (Doc. 5-4, pp. 4-10). In it, Harden seeks an order requiring IDOC Director
Baldwin to provide him with transitional housing so that he could be released.
The motion to submit evidence at Doc. 8 reiterates Harden’s claim that the
SDP program cannot effect his recovery, and presents three documents: 2 a letter
from the John Howard Association offering the opinion that “the SDP program is
These three pages were not filed of record, pending review by the Court. The Clerk
shall be directed to file the documents as exhibits to the motion at Doc. 8.
2
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effectively a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and its residents are
effectively prisoners that were imprisoned absent a criminal trial.” Also included
is a letter from Harden’s counsel and a forwarded letter from the IDOC advising
that as of September 13, 2016, there was still no change in the status of its efforts
to find acceptable housing for Harden.
The motion at Doc. 13 again asserts that Harden’s Eighth and Fourteenth
Amendment rights are being violated by his continued confinement, where the
SDP program does not comply with the SDP Act, and fails to provide for him to be
discharged in compliance with the conditions of his release.
He presents the
Court with a report prepared by Dean Cauley, who was retained to evaluate the
effectiveness of the SDP program at Big Muddy River, in connection with the civil
rights action in this Court brought by Harden and several other SDP detainees.
Howe, et al., v. Holt, et al., Case No. 14-cv-844-SMY (S.D. Ill. filed July 25, 2014)
(Harden was allowed to voluntarily dismiss his claims in that case without
prejudice on July 1, 2015, in anticipation of his release; see Doc. 73 in Howe).
Mr. Cauley opines that the SDP treatment program at Big Muddy:
[C]annot fulfill a goal to “treat and release after the briefest time
possible”. Instead, the inherent flaws in the program result in
treatment that is slow, repetitive, and not catered to the mission of
treating the men and returning them to the community as quickly as
possible. Also, the program has not focused on creating a therapeutic
milieu, but instead is restrictive, limited, and adversarial.
(Doc. 13-1, p. 3 (Doc. 124-1, p. 15 in Case No. 14-cv-844-SMY-PMF)).
Motions for Release from Custody (Docs. 12, 8 & 9)
The motion at Doc. 12, submitted on September 12, 2016, reiterates the
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point that Harden was ordered to be conditionally released, but has remained in
custody for the ensuing two years and eight months since that order.
Respondent/guardian Baldwin has failed to develop an exit strategy, resources, or
transitional assistance in order for Harden to be released in accordance with the
conditions imposed (Doc. 12, pp. 2-3). He then takes issue with the conditions of
release specified by his trial court, claiming that they are punitive rather than
rehabilitative, do not comport with legitimate government objectives, and thus
violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause (Doc. 12, pp. 4-5).
Incorporating many of the points made by Mr. Cauley in the report included with
Doc. 13, Harden further attacks the SDP program for its failure to provide
adequate treatment that includes treatment plans for committed persons after
their release into the community (Doc. 12, pp. 10-11). He concludes that because
of these failures of the SDP program, he is “essentially serving life in prison” (Doc.
12, p. 12). He requests this Court to grant him immediate release.
On October 5, 2016, Harden filed another motion seeking immediate
release, raising the same arguments as his earlier motion (Doc. 9). He includes a
list of court decisions which he claims support his arguments that the SDP
program is deficient and unconstitutional due to its failure to provide him with
treatment leading to his recovery and release (Doc. 9, p. 3).
Discussion
The SDPA allows for the indefinite civil commitment of a person who has
not yet been convicted of a sexual offense (i.e., a pretrial detainee), upon
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establishing that the person has a mental disorder that renders him or her a
sexually dangerous person under 725 ILL. COMP. STAT. 205/1.01. See Allison v.
Snyder, 332 F.3d 1076, 1078-79 (7th Cir. 2003).
Thus, Harden is not an
ordinary inmate serving a determinate sentence as punishment for a specific
offense, with the prospect of release once he has served his time. As an SDP
committed to the custody of the IDOC, the duration of his commitment is to be
determined by the court where the SDP proceeding took place.
See 725 ILL.
COMP. STAT. 205/0.01 et seq.
For any person confined pursuant to the SDP Act, the IDOC director “shall
provide care and treatment for the person committed . . . designed to effect
recovery,” and the committed person is to be housed “in any facility in the
Department of Corrections or portion thereof set aside for the care and treatment
of sexually dangerous persons.” 725 ILL. COMP. STAT. 205/8. Thus, Illinois state
law governs both the housing and the treatment of persons adjudicated as
sexually dangerous.
The SDPA provides a vehicle for a committed person to seek release on the
basis that he or she has recovered and is no longer a sexually dangerous person.
See 725 ILL. COMP. STAT. 205/9. If the committing court finds that the SDP:
appears no longer to be dangerous but that it is impossible to
determine with certainty under conditions of institutional care that
the person has fully recovered, the court shall enter an order
permitting the person to go at large subject to the conditions and
supervision by the Director as in the opinion of the court will
adequately protect the public.
725 ILL. COMP. STAT. 205/9(e). The statute thus contemplates that the committing
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court shall exercise its discretion as to the appropriate conditions to impose upon
a person to be released from confinement as an SDP, with the objective of
protecting the public. Furthermore, the Director of the IDOC is charged with the
responsibility of supervising the released person.
In Harden’s case, he sought and obtained a court order for his conditional
release, which was granted on February 26, 2014. He has submitted additional
exhibits to his petition, which include a copy of the order for conditional release
and the applicable conditions (Doc. 5-1, pp. 1-6). It appears that at this time, as
evidenced by the reports from the IDOC that there has been no change in the
status of their efforts to find a satisfactory placement for Harden, his continued
custody is primarily due to the lack of an appropriate residence that complies
with the conditions of his release.
It is apparent from Harden’s exhibits, and from the public records of the
Sangamon County Circuit Court, that his efforts in the state trial court to achieve
his release from custody are still ongoing. As noted above, Harden filed a motion
to modify the conditions of his release on July 9, 2015 (Doc. 5-2, pp. 5-7). This
resulted in an order for the IDOC to report back to the court on its efforts to find
an approved residence. Those reports were still being submitted as recently as
September 13, 2016 (See exhibit submitted with Doc. 8). Additionally, the online
docket for Harden’s case in Sangamon County Circuit Court No. 97-CF-1104
demonstrates that he filed a petition for release on July 11, 2016.
See
Http://records.sangamoncountycircuitclerk.org/sccc/DisplayDocket.sc (last visited
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Oct. 28, 2016); see also Bova v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 446 F. Supp. 2d 926, 930 n.2
(S.D. Ill. 2006) (a court may judicially notice public records available on
government websites) (collecting cases).
On October 25, 2016, the state trial
court held a telephone hearing, at which time another hearing was reset in the
matter, to be held on December 12, 2016. Id.
The ongoing proceedings in the state circuit court present two obstacles,
each of which prevent this federal Court from considering Harden’s petition for
habeas corpus relief at this time – the failure to exhaust available remedies, and
the Younger abstention doctrine.
First, all state court remedies must be exhausted before a petitioner may
seek intervention from the federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
We cannot review a habeas petitioner’s constitutional issue unless he
has provided the state courts with an opportunity to resolve it “by
invoking one complete round of the state’s established appellate
review process.” O’Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 845, 119 S.
Ct. 1728, 144 L.Ed.2d 1 (1999); see 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A). A
petitioner must fairly present his federal claims to the state courts by
arguing both the law and the facts underlying them. Baldwin v.
Reese, 541 U.S. 27, 29, 32, 124 S. Ct. 1347, 158 L.Ed.2d 64 (2004)
(explaining that, to comply with the requirement that the claims
assert violations of the federal constitution, the petitioner may simply
label his claim “federal” or cite cases that decide the claim on federal
grounds); Stevens v. McBride, 489 F.3d 883, 894 (7th Cir. 2007);
Anderson v. Benik, 471 F.3d 811, 815 (7th Cir. 2006).
Byers v. Basinger, 610 F.3d 980, 985 (7th Cir. 2010).
Under the AEDPA, an application for habeas corpus shall not be granted
unless the applicant has exhausted the remedies available in the state courts,
such that he lacks “the right under the law of the State to raise, by any available
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procedure, the question presented.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1)(A), (c). The principle
of exhaustion is based on comity and the fact that state courts, like federal courts,
are obliged to enforce federal law. O’Sullivan, 526 U.S. at 844; see also Spreitzer
v. Schomig, 219 F.3d 639, 645 (7th Cir. 2000).
While Harden continues to press his claims in the state trial court, this
matter remains unexhausted. Neither the state appellate court nor the Illinois
Supreme Court could yet have had the opportunity to review the trial court’s
handling of the order for Harden’s conditional release, let alone his ongoing
efforts to modify the conditions.
Until Harden’s claims have gone through a
complete round of appellate review, exhaustion has not been accomplished, and a
habeas action in this Court is premature.
Additionally, Harden’s mandamus
action, which may still be pending, may provide a procedure for him to obtain the
relief he seeks. Since that action was only filed in June 2016, Harden could not
yet have completed appellate review on that matter, if his petition was denied.
Secondly, under the abstention doctrine outlined in Younger v. Harris, 401
U.S. 37 (1971), a federal court should not interfere with pending state judicial
proceedings unless “special circumstances” exist. Braden v. 30th Judicial Circuit
Court of Kentucky, 410 U.S. 484 (1973); Sweeney v. Bartow, 612 F.3d 571 (7th
Cir. 2010); Brunken v. Lance, 807 F.2d 1325, 1330 (7th Cir. 1986) (citing
Middlesex Cnty. Ethics Comm. v. Garden State Bar Ass’n, 457 U.S. 423, 431
(1982)); Neville v. Cavanaugh, 611 F.2d 673, 675 (7th Cir. 1979). Such special
circumstances are generally limited to issues of double jeopardy and speedy trial.
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Braden, 410 U.S. at 489-92; Sweeney, 612 F.3d at 573.
Even in the situation where a person who is the subject of a pending state
proceeding has exhausted his state remedies by appealing to the highest state
court, the Seventh Circuit has explained that the Younger doctrine would permit
federal habeas relief only where “immediate federal intervention is necessary to
prevent the challenge [to the legality of his custody] from becoming moot.”
Sweeney, 612 F.3d at 573 (prisoner facing commitment as a “sexually violent
person” moved to dismiss state case, exhausted state interlocutory appeal, then
applied for federal habeas relief while state commitment proceeding was still
pending; court denied federal habeas petition based on Younger doctrine). Either
a speedy trial challenge or a double jeopardy challenge would meet this test,
because postponing the consideration of a federal habeas claim until the end of
the state proceeding would mean that any relief would come too late to prevent the
violation of the prisoner’s rights.
Id.; see also Neville, 611 F.2d at 676
(contrasting a double jeopardy claimaint, who has already “endured the rigors of a
criminal trial,” with a petitioner who has not yet been tried on any pending
indictment).
The Younger doctrine directs that this Court should abstain from
interjecting itself into the state’s adjudication of Harden’s conditional release, as
well as the questions of whether the conditions have been satisfied to permit his
release, or whether those conditions should be modified.
Under Younger, federal courts are required to abstain from interference in
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ongoing state proceedings when they are “(1) judicial in nature, (2) implicate
important state interests, and (3) offer an adequate opportunity for review of
constitutional claims, (4) so long as no extraordinary circumstances exist which
would make abstention inappropriate.” Green v. Benden, 281 F.3d 661, 666 (7th
Cir. 2002) (citing Middlesex Cnty. Ethics Comm. v. Garden State Bar Ass’n, 457
U.S. 423, 432, 436-37 (1982) and Majors v. Engelbrecht, 149 F.3d 709, 711 (7th
Cir. 1998)).
The Younger abstention doctrine is implicated here because the
ongoing proceeding is judicial in nature and involves the important state interest
of adjudicating whether Harden should continue to be held in custody under the
SDP Act, as well as the state interest of protecting the public by setting and
monitoring the conditions of his release. Further, there is no indication that the
state proceedings would not provide Harden with an adequate opportunity for
review of any constitutional claims. And finally, no extraordinary circumstances
are apparent which require federal intervention at this stage.
For these reasons, Harden cannot maintain an action for federal habeas
corpus relief at this time. The petition shall be dismissed without prejudice.
Disposition
The motions to submit evidence (Docs. 5, 8, & 13) are GRANTED IN PART
insofar as the documents submitted as evidence have been considered by the
Court in rendering this decision and those documents are part of the record in
this case. The Clerk is DIRECTED to file the three pages of documents submitted
along with the motion to submit evidence at Doc. 8, as exhibits to that motion. All
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other relief requested in those motions is DENIED.
All other pending motions are DENIED AS MOOT.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition is summarily DISMISSED
without prejudice. Petitioner has not yet exhausted his state court remedies, and
the ongoing adjudication in state court regarding the conditions of his release
leads the Court to conclude that it should abstain from intervening in this pending
matter.
If petitioner wishes to appeal this dismissal, he may file a notice of appeal
with this court within thirty days of the entry of judgment. FED. R. APP. P. 4(a)(4).
A motion for leave to appeal in forma pauperis should set forth the issues
petitioner plans to present on appeal. See FED. R. APP. P. 24(a)(1)(C). If petitioner
does choose to appeal and is allowed to proceed IFP, he will be liable for a portion
of the $505.00 appellate filing fee (the amount to be determined based on his
prisoner trust fund account records for the past six months) irrespective of the
outcome of the appeal. See FED. R. APP. P. 3(e); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); Ammons
v. Gerlinger, 547 F.3d 724, 725-26 (7th Cir. 2008); Sloan v. Lesza, 181 F.3d 857,
858-59 (7th Cir. 1999); Lucien v. Jockisch, 133 F.3d 464, 467 (7th Cir. 1998). A
proper and timely motion filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e)
may toll the 30-day appeal deadline. A Rule 59(e) motion must be filed no more
than twenty-eight (28) days after the entry of the judgment, and this 28-day
deadline cannot be extended.
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Certificate of Appealability
Should petitioner desire to appeal this Court’s ruling dismissing his
petition for a writ of habeas corpus, he must first secure a certificate of
appealability, either from this Court or from the court of appeals. See FED. R.
APP. P. 22(b); 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253, a certificate
of appealability may issue “only if the applicant has made a substantial showing of
the denial of a constitutional right.”
This requirement has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to mean that
an applicant must show that “reasonable jurists would find the district court’s
assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong.” Slack v. McDaniel,
529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000). Petitioner need not show that his appeal will succeed,
Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 337 (2003), but he must show “something
more than the absence of frivolity” or the existence of mere “good faith” on his
part. Id. at 338 (quoting Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U.S. 880, 893 (1983)). If the
district court denies the request, a petitioner may request that a circuit judge
issue the certificate. FED. R. APP. P. 22(b)(1)-(3).
For the reasons detailed above, the Court has determined that the petition
was brought prematurely, and therefore petitioner is not entitled to relief
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
Furthermore, the Court finds no basis for a
determination that its decision is debatable or incorrect. Thus, petitioner has not
made “a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.”
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that a certificate of appealability shall NOT
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be issued.
The Clerk is DIRECTED to close this case and enter judgment accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Digitally signed by
Judge David R.
Herndon
Date: 2016.11.07
16:43:20 -06'00'
Dated: November 7, 2016
United States District Judge
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