Frazier v. Jackson ( 2009 )

FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
July 2, 2010
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
KEITH E. FRAZIER,
Petitioner - Appellant, No. 09-1429
v. (D. Colorado)
HEARING OFFICER JACKSON; (D.C. No. 1:09-CV-01789-ZLW)
WARDEN HOYT BRILL, Private
prisons Monitoring Unit Designee
John Doe; COLORADO
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
Respondents - Appellees.
ORDER DENYING PETITION FOR REHEARING
AND REHEARING EN BANC
Before HARTZ, ANDERSON, and SEYMOUR, Circuit Judges.
After this court issued an order denying his request for a Certificate of
Appealability to appeal the denial of his motion for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241,
Keith Frazier filed a pro se petition for rehearing en banc. We then appointed
counsel for Mr. Frazier. New counsel filed a supplemental petition for panel
rehearing. At our request, the respondents submitted a response. Having
reviewed these pleadings, we deny panel rehearing. We have determined,
however, that substitution of the court’s original decision is appropriate.
Consequently, we withdraw our prior Order and substitute the attached amended
Order.
The original suggestion for rehearing en banc was circulated to all the
judges of the court who are in regular active service. No judge called for a poll.
Therefore, the en banc petition is likewise denied. The clerk is directed to docket
the new Order denying a certificate of appealability forthwith.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
ELISABETH A. SHUMAKER,
Clerk of Court
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FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
December 3, 2009
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
TENTH CIRCUIT
KEITH E. FRAZIER,
Petitioner - Appellant, No. 09-1429
v. (D. Colorado)
HEARING OFFICER JACKSON; (D.C. No. 1:09-CV-01789-ZLW)
WARDEN HOYT BRILL, Private
prisons Monitoring Unit Designee
John Doe; COLORADO
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,
Respondents - Appellees.
ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY
Before HARTZ, ANDERSON, and SEYMOUR, Circuit Judges.
Keith Frazier is a prisoner in the custody of the Colorado Department of
Corrections at the Crowley County Correctional Facility in Olney Springs,
Colorado. He filed a pro se application for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241 in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The
district court dismissed the application and denied relief. He seeks a certificate of
appealability (COA) from this court to appeal the denial of his application. See
Montez v. McKinna, 208 F.3d 862, 868–69 (10th Cir. 2000) (requiring a COA to
appeal dismissal of habeas application brought by state prisoner under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241 or § 2254). We deny a COA and dismiss the appeal.
I. BACKGROUND
While correctional officers were conducting a prisoner count in
Mr. Frazier’s prison area on May 22, 2005, he was involved in an altercation with
his cellmate inside their cell. As a result of the incident he was charged with two
prison disciplinary offenses—fighting and count interference. He argued that he
was not guilty of either disciplinary offense because he had acted in self-defense
after being attacked by his cellmate; but he was convicted of both and sentenced
to 20 days in segregation. In addition, the offense made him ineligible to obtain
earned-time credits for two months. The disciplinary convictions were affirmed
both on administrative appeal and in state-court proceedings.
In July 2009 Mr. Frazier filed his § 2241 application in district court.
Although not all his claims were framed in terms of his right to due process under
the United States Constitution, he essentially contended that he had been denied
due process in four respects: (1) there was insufficient evidence to convict him of
the disciplinary offenses; (2) he was denied a fair hearing because he could not
call certain witnesses at his administrative hearing; (3) the warden did not timely
review his administrative appeal; and (4) his administrative appeal was not
reviewed by the Private Prison Monitoring Unit of the Colorado Department of
Corrections. (Insofar as he was claiming violations of state law alone, he was not
entitled to relief under § 2241. See Montez, 208 F.3d at 865.) He argued that the
allegedly erroneous disciplinary convictions resulted in a loss of earned-time
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credits and other “potential collateral consequences.” R. at 25. His requested
relief was an order expunging the disciplinary convictions “so that he can recover
‘earned-time’ credits against his sentence that he has lost.” Id.
The district court denied Mr. Frazier’s application. It concluded that he
could not obtain habeas relief because even if his contentions were meritorious,
he would not be entitled to immediate or speedier release. The district court
denied Mr. Frazier’s request to reconsider.
II. DISCUSSION
Because Mr. Frazier was denied a COA by the district court, he may not
appeal the district court’s decision absent a grant of a COA by this court. See
Montez, 208 F.3d at 868–69. A COA will issue “only if the applicant has made a
substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C.
§ 2253(c)(2). This standard requires “a demonstration that . . . includes showing
that reasonable jurists could debate whether (or, for that matter, agree that) the
petition should have been resolved in a different manner or that the issues
presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further.” Slack v.
McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484 (2000) (internal quotation marks omitted). If the
application was denied on procedural grounds, the applicant faces a double
hurdle. Not only must the applicant make a substantial showing of the denial of a
constitutional right, but he must also show “that jurists of reason would find it
debatable . . . whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling.” Id.
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“Where a plain procedural bar is present and the district court is correct to invoke
it to dispose of the case, a reasonable jurist could not conclude either that the
district court erred in dismissing the petition or that the petitioner should be
allowed to proceed further.” Id.
An application for habeas relief may be granted only “when the remedy
requested would result in the prisoner’s immediate or speedier release from . . .
confinement.” Boutwell v. Keating, 399 F.3d 1203, 1209 (10th Cir. 2005).
Mr. Frazier contends that the district court erred in concluding that the
disciplinary proceedings did not affect the duration of his sentence. He argues
that both the denial of earned-time credits and other potential collateral
consequences from his disciplinary convictions—such as the denials of release on
parole, transfer to community corrections, and sentence reconsideration—resulted
in a longer period of incarceration.
We agree with Mr. Frazier that earned-time credits would reduce the time
he must serve on his sentence. But due process under the United States
Constitution protects against deprivation of earned-time credits only if
Mr. Frazier had a protected liberty interest in those credits. And he has no such
interest because the award of earned-time credits is within the discretion of prison
authorities. See Fogle v. Pierson, 435 F.3d 1252, 1262 (10th Cir. 2006).
Accordingly, Mr. Frazier cannot base his due-process claim on his loss of
eligibility for earned-time credits.
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As for the potential collateral consequences of which Mr. Frazier
complains, we have recognized that “the connection between a disciplinary
decision and the length of a prisoner’s sentence may be sufficient to establish a
liberty interest when the prisoner establishes that the decision was the only factor
that lengthened the sentence.” Wilson v. Jones, 430 F.3d 1113, 1119 (10th Cir.
2005). But Mr. Frazier has not shown that the denial of his release on parole,
placement in community corrections, or sentence reconsideration was the result of
his disciplinary convictions. Indeed, he concedes that no reason was given for
any of these denials.
III. CONCLUSION
Because no reasonable jurist could debate whether Mr. Frazier’s application
ought to have been granted, we DENY his request for a COA and DISMISS his
application. We GRANT his motion to proceed in forma pauperis.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Harris L Hartz
Circuit Judge
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