Haendel v. Virginia Department of Corrections et al, No. 7:2018cv00289 - Document 20 (W.D. Va. 2018)
Court Description: MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Senior Judge Jackson L. Kiser on 9/13/2018. (tvt)
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CLERK' :X oFl chVI TDllAN uL,L :E .Dl :r.:::e ,VA FELBD IN THE UNITEP STATESDISTRICT COURT FO R TIIE W ESTERN D ISTR IC T O F W R G INIA R O AN O K E D IV ISIO N sgp j$ ggjg BK2UL . U L , cLEnx D DA N H A EN D EL, Plaintiff, CivilAction No.7:18-cv-00289 V. M EM ORANDUM OPIM ON W R G IN IA D EPA R TM ENT O F C O RR EC TION S,etaI., D efendants. ày: Hon.JacksonL.Kiser 1 Senior U nited statesD istrictJudge Presentlybeforemeisamotion forpreliminaryinjunctiverelieffiledbyproK , incarcerated plaintiffDan Haendel, who isamem beroftheDistrictofColumbiaBar.1 Forthe followingreasons,them otion isdenied. PlaintiffarguesthatVirginiaDepartmentofCorrections(ç$VDOC'')staffhasincorrectly calculatedhisreleasedate,whichpartly dependsonthenmotmtoflçgoodtimecredit''(ççGTC'') Plaintiffenrned whilein custody. Plaintiffisserving afive-yearactive sentence.Hebecnm ea stateresponsible inmate on January 6,2015,atwhich tim ehewasassigned to çt evel1''enrning leveland enrned 4.5 daysofGTC forevery 30 daysserved. W hileassigned to Level1,Plaintiffs projectedgoodtimereleasedatewasSeptember4,2018.However,Plaintiffwasdemotedto Level2onFebruary16,2018,andbeganenrning 3daysofGTC.PlaintiY sprojectedgoodtime releasedatewasre-calculated asSeptember13,2018,on iheassllm ption hewould rem ain atLevel 2 fortherem ainderoflzisincarceration. On August22,2018,an InstitutionalClassificationAuthorityCGICA'')reviewedPlaintiY s Haendel v. Virginia Department of Corrections et al Doc. 20 GTC leveland recomm endedpromoting Plaintiffto Level1.DefendantW alkerreviewed the ICA 'Srecom mendation and determinedthatPlaintiffhadnotmetcriteriatobeprom oted to Level Consequently,W alkerkeptPlaintiffatLevel2,mldPlaintic sprojectedgoodtimereleasedate 1Ideclineto extend theliberalconstluction stndardto an attorney. SeeH ainesv.Kerner.404U .S.519, 521(1972)(observingthatacourtshouldholdproK complaintstoEslessstringentstandardsthanformalpleadings (IraRedbylawyers''(emphasisaddedl). Dockets.Justia.com remainedSeptember13,2018.PlaintiffasksforapreliminaryinjtmctiontoforcetheVDOC to releasehim before Septem ber13,2018. A movantmustestablishfourelementsbeforeapreliminaryinjlmctionmayissue;1)heis likelytosucceedonthemerits;2)heislikelytosufferirreparableharm intheabsenceof preliminaryrelief;3)thebalanceofequitiestipsinllisfavor;and4)an injlmction isinthepublic interest.W interv.Nat.. Res.Def.Cotmcil.Inc.,555U.S.7,19-22(2008).A failuretoestablish anyelementisfatal.SeeRealTruthAboutObama.Inc.v.FEC,575F.3d342,347(4thCir.2009) (çtW interarticulatesfotlrrequirements,eachofwhichmustbesatissed....'').BecausePlaintiff wantstochangethestamsguo,heseeksamandatoryinjtmctionthatisEsdisfavoredgland warranted only in them ostextraordinary circum stances.'' InreM icrosoftAntitnlstLitic.,333 F.3d517,525(4thCir.2003).Consequently,1mustgiveanSçevenmoresearching''review tmder W interthanifPlaintiffwasseekingtoenforcethestatusquo.JZ M so,Imustbemindfulthat(sin thepdson context,arequestforinjunctivereliefmustalwaysbeviewedwith greatcautionbecause judicialrestraintisespeciallycalledforindealingwiththecomplexandintractableproblemsof pdson adm inistration.'' Bnrnettv.Youna,No.5:18-cv-279,2018U.S.Dist.LEXIS 117088,at*6, 2018W L 3405415,at*2 (S.D.W .Va.Jtme21,2018). Plaintifffailsto suftk iently establish an irreparablehnrm.Foremost,Plaintiffhad been sentenced to an activeterm offveyeazs'incarceration,and tmdereitherofthe calculations,heis stillto bereleased beforeservingfveyears. See.e.:.,Greenholtzv.lnm atesofNeb.Penal& Corr.Complex,442U.S.1,7(1979)(recognizingthereisnoconstimtionalorinherentrightofa convictedpersontobeconditionallyreleasedbeforetheexpirationofavalidsentence).Also,the allegedharm inthiscase- beingincarceratedseveraldaysbeyondaprojectedgoodtimerelease datebutwithin the lim itsetby thestatecourt- can berem ediedby money dnmages,asis indicated in Plaintic srecentnm endm entincreasingthegidnmnum clause.See.e. M.,Huo es 2 . Network Svs.v.InterdigitalCommc'nsCop.,17F.3d691,693-94(4t, h Cir.1994)(discussingthe effectavailabilityofdamageshastotheanalysisofanirreparablehnnn). Plaintiffalso failsto clearly show thatthebalance ofequitiestipsin hisfavorand thata releaseeadierthan calculated by theVDOC isin thepublicinterest.Plaintiffisincarcerated for attempting totake indecentlibertieswith am inorand with using a comm tmicationssystem to facilitateasexualoffencew1t11aminor.2 seeva codej18.2-370(A)(4)(prohibiting,interalia, . theproposalofdoing an actofsexualintercourse,analintercotlrse,cllnnilingus,fellatio,or nnilingustoachild);j18.2-374.3(C)(proilibitingtheuseofacomputerforsuchproposals). Plaintiffisdeem ed aviolentsex offenderperVirgizlia'sSex OffenderRegistry.VIRGW IA STATE POLICE,hdp://sex-offender.vsp.virgiia.gov/sor/offenderDetils.html?regld=6s4ss(lastvisited Sept.7,2018);seeInReKatrinaCanalBreachesConsol.LitiR.,533F.Supp.2d615,631-33& > .14-15(E.D.La.2008)(collectingcasesindicatingthatfederalcourtsmaytakejudicialnoticeof govemmentalwebsites);W illinmsv.Long,585F.Supp.2d679,686-88& n.4 (D.M d.2008) (collectingcasesindicatingthatpostingson governmentwebsitesareinherently authenticorself- authenticating).M oreover,statejudges,jurors,andstateprison oftkialsareempoweredto determineappropriatesentencesin Virginia,and federalcourtsarei11suited to replacethem . See 18U.S.C.j3626($42)CThecourtshallgivesubstmntialweighttoanyadverseimpactonpublic safetyortheoperationofacriminaljusticesystem causedbythepreliminaryreliefand shall respecttheprinciplesofcomity ...(with stategovernment)intailoringanypreliminaryrelief'). Releasing som eonedeem ed aviolentsex offenderbased on theparties'narrow ly divergent calculationsrisksa substantialm istakeadverseto thepublicinterest. See,e.a.,HughesNetwork Sys.,17F.3dat693 (çtlGqrantingapreliminaryinjtmctionrequiresthatadistrictcoutt actingon 2Thestatecourtrecordhmsbeenloanedtothiscourtdllring thependency ofPlaintiff'spetition forawritof habemscorpusunder28U.S.C.j2254 in Haendelv.Gilmore,No.7:18cv317. 3 an incompleterecord,orderaparty to act,orrefrain from acting,in acertainw ay. Thedangerofa mistakeinthissettingissubstnntial-'). Fortheforegoing reasons,lfind thatPlaintifffailsto satisfy theelem entsfora preliminaryinjtmction.Accordingly,themotionforapreliminaryinjtmctionisdenied,andthe related motion forahearing and correction ofthereleasedateisderlied asm oot. ENTER:Thisl = dayofseptember,2018. Se 'or zzited StatesDistrictJudge 4
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