Filed: May 22, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-4838 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. IKE DAVID SIMMONS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. W. Earl Britt, Senior District Judge. (5:14-cr-00007-BR-1) Submitted: May 11, 2015 Decided: May 22, 2015 Before SHEDD, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Thomas P. McNamara, Federal
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-4838 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. IKE DAVID SIMMONS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. W. Earl Britt, Senior District Judge. (5:14-cr-00007-BR-1) Submitted: May 11, 2015 Decided: May 22, 2015 Before SHEDD, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Thomas P. McNamara, Federal P..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-4838
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
IKE DAVID SIMMONS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. W. Earl Britt, Senior
District Judge. (5:14-cr-00007-BR-1)
Submitted: May 11, 2015 Decided: May 22, 2015
Before SHEDD, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Eric J. Brignac,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant. Thomas G. Walker, United States Attorney, Jennifer
P. May-Parker, Seth M. Wood, Assistant United States Attorneys,
Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CUIRAM:
Ike David Simmons was sentenced to 600 months’ imprisonment
after pleading guilty to manufacturing child pornography, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a), (d) (2012). On appeal,
Simmons raises only one issue: whether the district court erred
in failing to strike or redact Paragraph 29 of his Presentence
Investigation Report (“PSR”). We dismiss the appeal.
Paragraph 29 of the PSR contains information concerning
Simmons’ history of psychosexual treatment. Simmons objected to
the inclusion of this paragraph on the basis that it could be
used in a future civil commitment certification hearing under
the Adam Walsh Act, 18 U.S.C. § 4248 (2012). The district court
overruled Simmons’ objection, noting that the information in the
paragraph “had no impact on the advisory guideline range.”
On appeal, Simmons argues that he has a right to privacy in
the information, and that the Government’s interest in including
the information fails to overcome this right. The Government
contends that we should dismiss the appeal as unripe.
Ripeness is a threshold question of justiciability, arising
out of the “case or controversy” language found in Article III.
Scoggins v. Lee’s Crossing Homeowners Ass’n,
718 F.3d 262, 269
(4th Cir. 2013). “The issue of ripeness entails an analysis
considering the fitness of the issues before the court, as well
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as the hardship that the parties will experience if the court
withholds consideration of the dispute.”
Id. at 270. Ripeness
is required to prevent the courts “from becoming entangled in
‘abstract disagreements.’”
Id. at 270 (quoting Abbott Labs. v.
Gardner,
387 U.S. 136, 148 (1967)). A claim is unripe “‘if it
rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as
anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all.’”
Scoggins, 718
F.3d at 270 (quoting Texas v. United States,
523 U.S. 296, 300
(1998)).
In United States v. Streich,
560 F.3d 926, 931 (9th Cir.
2009), the defendant also raised an objection to the inclusion
of psychosexual treatment in the PSR on the basis that the
information could be used in a future civil commitment
proceeding. The Ninth Circuit noted that Streich did not
challenge the use of the information at sentencing, nor did he
challenge the other ways that the Bureau of Prisons might use
the information.
Id. The court classified the fear of civil
commitment as “the classic example of a ‘contingent future
event’ that ‘may not happen at all’” and dismissed the appeal as
unripe.
Id. at 932.
Here, Simmons does not challenge the district court’s use
of the information at sentencing. Simmons’ concern about the
inclusion of Paragraph 29 regards the potential use of the
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information at a possible future civil commitment hearing. As
Simmons concedes, any such hearing would not occur for
approximately 40 years. Moreover, Simmons will only face civil
commitment if the Government decides to pursue civil commitment
and meets its burden to prove by clear and convicting evidence
that Simmons is sexually dangerous. 18 U.S.C. § 4248(d) (2012);
cf. United States v. Legrano,
659 F.2d 17, 18 (4th Cir. 1981)
(rejecting defendant’s argument that district court erred in
refusing to strike information from the PSR that might
jeopardize defendant’s chances in a future parole proceeding,
noting that there were administrative avenues to challenge the
PSR’s contents). Thus, Simmons’ claim is the type of
“contingent future event” that falls within the ripeness
doctrine.
Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before this court and argument would
not aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
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