Ryan Castaneira v. Michael Potteiger

NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 15-1337
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RYAN CASTANEIRA,
Appellant
v.
MICHAEL POTTEIGER
__________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civ. No. 3-13-cv-03108)
District Judge: James M. Munley
__________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
July 10, 2015
Before: CHAGARES, JORDAN and COWEN, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: July 17, 2015)
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OPINION
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PER CURIAM
Ryan Castaneira appeals from an order of the District Court granting judgment on
the pleadings to Michael Potteiger, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation &
Parole. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm.

This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.
Castaneira was convicted in the State of Georgia of four sex offenses involving the
solicitation of a minor for indecent purposes via a computer, and sentenced to a term of
imprisonment of 10 years, to be followed by 20 years of probation. By virtue of his
conviction, Castaneira is subject to Ga. Code Ann. § 42-1-16, which provides that “[a]ny
individual who committed an act between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2008, for which
such individual is required to register shall not reside within 1,000 feet of any child care
facility, church, school, or area where minors congregate.” Id. In February, 2013,
Georgia granted Castaneira parole and imposed the statutorily-mandated special
condition of supervision prohibiting him from residing within 1,000 feet of a church,
school, child care facility or areas where minors congregate.
On April 10, 2013, Castaneira applied to transfer his parole supervision from
Georgia to Pennsylvania pursuant to the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender
Supervision. As part of that application process, he was required to agree to a list of
special conditions of parole, including the 1,000 feet residency restriction. His initial
request to reside at a specific address in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was denied by
Pennsylvania’s Parole Board because the residence was within 1,000 feet of a child care
facility, school, church or other place where minors congregate. Castaneira submitted a
second application to reside at an address in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. The Parole Board
denied this request because the proposed residence was within 500 feet of a church and
school. Castaneira was advised that Georgia parole authorities would not remove the
1,000 feet residency restriction.
Castaneira then filed a civil rights action, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, in the United States
District Court, alleging a violation of his rights under the Interstate Compact, and his
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constitutional right to free travel and equal protection of the laws, which was transferred
to the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Castaneira, who is from Pennsylvania,
specifically argued that he could not reside at his “primary residence” in Camp Hill
because of the 1,000 feet residency restriction. Castaneira sought declaratory and
injunctive relief. The Parole Board moved for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) (“After the pleadings are closed -- but early enough
not to delay trial -- a party may move for judgment on the pleadings.”). The Parole
Board argued that Congress did not create an enforceable right for parolees under the
Interstate Compact, and that Castaneira’s Fourteenth Amendment Due Process and Equal
Protection claims failed as a matter of law. With respect to Castaneira’s equal protection
argument, the Parole Board argued that Castaneira is not similarly situated to
Pennsylvania offenders because he is specifically subject to conditions insisted upon by
parole authorities in Georgia.
Following the denial of his third request -- to reside at another address in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania -- Castaneira moved for an emergency temporary restraining
order. In seeking an order restraining the Parole Board from denying his third request,
Castaneira submitted Exhibits “X,” “Y,” “Z” and “AA,” which he created by identifying,
through Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law website, four Pennsylvania sex offenders who
were living within 1,000 feet, according to Google Maps, of elementary schools or other
facilities where minors congregate. Castaneira argued that his exhibits showed that he
was being treated differently from in-state parolee sex offenders.
In an order entered on September 22, 2014, the District Court granted judgment on
the pleadings to the Parole Board. The Court reasoned that Pennsylvania and Georgia
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have adopted the Interstate Compact, and it provides offenders the opportunity to transfer
their parole supervision to the community where they have family, confirmed
employment, specialized treatment programs, and/or educational or vocational
opportunities; 61 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 7112; Ga. Code Ann. § 42-9-81. But, in Doe v.
Pa. Bd. of Probation & Parole, 513 F.3d 95, 104 (3d Cir. 2008), we held that, although
the Interstate Compact creates rights for the various states who are signatories to it, it
does not create rights for parolees. Therefore, parolees like Castaneira do not have a
private right of action under § 1983 to enforce the provisions of it.
Next, the District Court noted Castaneira’s argument that his request to transfer
parole from Georgia to Pennsylvania implicated his fundamental right to travel - a right
guaranteed by the Due Process Clause, but observed that individuals who have
committed crimes do not have an unqualified right to interstate travel. A State, for
example, may prevent a citizen who has been convicted of a crime from leaving, see
Jones v. Helms, 452 U.S. 412, 419 (1981), and, even if a person is not currently
incarcerated, that person’s criminal conduct “necessarily qualified his right” to interstate
travel, id. at 421. Restrictions to a particular community or state, as well as restrictions
on travel or movement, are standard conditions of parole. See Morrissey v. Brewer, 408
U.S. 471, 478 (1972). Because Georgia, through the exercise of its police power, was
authorized to impose the special condition of parole in Castaneira’s case, see United
States v. Knights, 534 U.S. 112, 119 (2001), and because Castaneira, as a parolee does
not enjoy an absolute right to travel, his substantive due process claim failed as a matter
of law.
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Last, the District Court rejected as meritless Castaneira’s equal protection
argument. The Court held that Castaneira was not similarly situated to Pennsylvania
offenders because Georgia, not Pennsylvania, imposed the special condition in his case.
The Court considered Castaneira’s argument that our decision in Doe supported a
determination that his right to equal protection had been violated, but held that
Castaneira’s circumstances could be distinguished from those of the plaintiff in Doe.
Castaneira moved for reconsideration of the District Court’s judgment, Fed. R.
Civ. Pro. 59(e), arguing that the Court overlooked his request for declaratory relief. In an
order entered on January 5, 2015, the District Court denied the motion, holding that,
because the Interstate Compact does not confer enforceable rights on parolees, no right
existed for the Court to award declaratory relief.
Castaneira appeals. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. He argues that
the District Court misunderstood his argument, and that his real contention is that
Interstate Compact Rule 3.101 on mandatory transfers, as well as Rules 4.101 and 4.103,
require Pennsylvania to disregard Georgia’s special parole conditions; that his case
cannot be distinguished from Doe, 513 F.3d 95; and that the District Court did not give
sufficient weight to his Exhibits “X,” “Y,” “Z” and “ AA, which he argues show that he
is not being treated the same as in-state offenders convicted of similar crimes.
We will affirm. Our review of a District Court’s order granting judgment on the
pleadings is plenary. Sikirica v. Nationwide Insurance Co., 416 F.3d 214, 219 (3d Cir.
2005). Under Rule 12(c), “judgment will not be granted unless the movant clearly
establishes that no material issue of fact remains to be resolved and that he is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law.” Id. The Court views “the facts presented in the pleadings
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and the inferences to be drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving
party.” Id.
As a threshold matter, we note that Castaneira now resides at an address separate
from any of those identified in his applications. The Parole Board has noted in its brief
on appeal that the matter is arguably moot by virtue of the transfer, but that it appears that
Castaneira may be continuing to press an argument that the 1,000 feet residency
restriction cannot be enforced now that his case has been transferred. Castaneira argues
that his appeal is not moot, and we agree because there is no indication of any change in
the Pennsylvania Parole Board’s decision to enforce the 1,000 feet residency restriction.
We thus remain able to fashion meaningful relief should we decide it is warranted. See
Artway v. Attorney General of New Jersey, 81 F.3d 1235, 1246 (3d Cir. 1996).
The District Court properly determined that Castaneira does not have an
enforceable right under the Interstate Compact, and that his substantive due process claim
fails as a matter of law. We specifically reject as meritless Castaneira’s argument that
Rules 3.101, 4.101 and 4.103, see http://www.interstatecompact.org, create an
enforceable right in his case. The right to enforce the Interstate Compact rules belongs to
Pennsylvania and Georgia, not to Castaneira, Doe, 513 F.3d at 105.
We turn then to Castaneira’s Equal Protection argument. The 1,000 feet residency
restriction is a condition of parole mandated by Georgia statute, which Georgia parole
authorities have declined to remove and which Pennsylvania has decided to enforce. 1 In
1
Rule 401.3 specifically governs “Special Conditions,” and the imposition of them by the
sending and receiving states, as follows:
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applying for the transfer, Castaneira agreed to the condition, but then when his specific
request was denied, he contended that the Equal Protection Clause required Pennsylvania
to forgo enforcing the 1,000 feet residency restriction because enforcing it would mean
that he would not be treated the same as in-state parolee sex offenders. He argued that
the District Court erred in concluding that he is not similarly situated to Pennsylvania
offenders on the sole ground that he was convicted and sentenced in Georgia.
Under the Fourteenth Amendment, no State shall “deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. This is
essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike. City of
Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, 473 U.S. 432, 439 (1985). The threshold question is
thus whether Castaneira and in-state parolee sex offenders, though perhaps treated
differently, are in fact similarly situated in the first place. Castaneira reads the District
(a) At the time of acceptance or during the term of supervision, the compact
administrator or supervising authority in the receiving state may impose a special
condition on an offender transferred under the interstate compact if that special
condition would have been imposed on the offender if sentence had been imposed
in the receiving state.
(b) A receiving state shall notify a sending state that it intends to impose or has
imposed a special condition on the offender, the nature of the special condition,
and the purpose.
(c) A sending state shall inform the receiving state of any special conditions to
which the offender is subject at the time the request for transfer is made or at any
time thereafter.
(d) A receiving state that is unable to enforce a special condition imposed in the
sending state shall notify the sending state of its inability to enforce a special
condition at the time of request for transfer of supervision is made.
The Parole Board argues in its brief that Pennsylvania is required to supervise cases
transferred from other states in accordance with Interstate Compact rules and the
conditions placed on offenders by the sending state, but it also acknowledges that
disputes arise and when they do a “compacting state’s options to resolve disputes run the
gamut from informal communication to judicial enforcement in federal district court.”
Appellee’s Brief at 10 (citing Interstate Compact Rules 6.101-6.104).
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Court’s decision too narrowly. Persons are “similarly situated” for purposes of an equal
protection claim when “they are alike in all relevant aspects.” Startzell v. City of
Philadelphia, 533 F.3d 183, 203 (3d Cir. 2008) (emphasis added). Castaneira is (a) from
a sending state that has insisted on the enforcement of a certain restriction; and (b) the
sending state’s insistence is based on a statutory mandate. Castaneira has failed to
persuade us that, given these two factors, he is similarly situated to in-state parolee sex
offenders.2
Castaneira also relies on our decision in Doe. In Doe, 513 F.3d at 105, we held
that a version of Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law violated an out-of-state offender’s equal
protection rights, because all out-of-state offenders convicted of sex offenses who
transferred supervision to Pennsylvania were subject to community notification. By
contrast, an individual who was convicted of the same offense in Pennsylvania would be
subject to community notification only if, after a civil hearing, he had been designated a
“sexually violent predator.” We concluded that the law violated equal protection because
subjecting out-of-state sex offenders to community notification without providing
equivalent procedural safeguards as were given to in-state sex offenders was not
rationally related to the interest of protecting citizens from sexually violent predators. Id.
at 112. We agree with the District Court that Doe can be distinguished. Doe did not
concern the “similarly situated” issue presented here, and did not concern a sending
state’s demand that a particular restriction be enforced, or a sending state’s statutory
mandate.
2
For this reason, Castaneira’s Exhibits “X,” “Y,” “Z” and “AA” are not relevant.
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For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the order of the District Court granting
judgment on the pleadings to the Chairman of the Parole Board.
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