FIELDS v. SHULTZ

Filing 7

MEMORANDUM OPINION FILED. Signed by Judge Renee Marie Bumb on 10/21/09. (js)

CLOSED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY ANTHONY KEVIN FIELDS, Petitioner, v. P. SHULTZ, Respondent. It appearing that: 1. On July 9, 2009, Petitioner, an inmate serving a : : : : : : : : : : : Civil No. 09-3376 (RMB)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

sentence imposed by the District of Columbia who is incarcerated at FCI Fairton, filed a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking restoration of 27 days of good conduct time forfeited as a disciplinary sanction. 2. On August 3, 2009, Respondent filed an Answer seeking

dismissal of the Petition, a certification and several exhibits. 3. On August 14, 2009, the Bureau of Prisons released See Inmate Locator, Fed. Bureau of

Petitioner from custody.

Prisons, http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction =IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=18555-083&x=7 2&y=18 (last accessed Oct. 19, 2009). 4. Article III of the Constitution limits the judicial

power of federal courts to "cases or controversies" between parties. U.S. CONST. art. III, § 2. "The exercise of judicial

power under Art. III of the Constitution depends on the existence

of a case or controversy," and "a federal court [lacks] the power to render advisory opinions." U.S. Nat'l Bank of Oregon v. Inc., 508 U.S. 439, 445

Independent Ins. Agents of America,

(1993 ) (quoting Preiser v. Newkirk, 422 U.S. 395, 401 (1975). "This case-or-controversy requirement subsists through all stages of federal judicial proceedings." Lewis v. Continental Bank "This means that, throughout

Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477-78 (1990).

the litigation, the plaintiff must have suffered, or be threatened with, an actual injury traceable to the defendant and likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision." Spencer, 523 U.S. at 7. 5. Petitioner's release on August 14, 2009, caused the

Petition to be moot because it no longer presented a case or controversy under Article III, § 2, of the Constitution. Spencer, 523 U.S. at 7. See Scott v. Holt, 297 Fed. App'x 154

(3d Cir. 2008) (federal prisoner's § 2241 petition challenging loss of good conduct time is moot when he is released). 6. Opinion. s/Renée Marie Bumb RENÉE MARIE BUMB United States District Judge Dated: October 21, 2009 An appropriate Order accompanies this Memorandum

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