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Wilder v. Forte, 95-1960 (1996)

Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Number: 95-1960 Visitors: 3
Filed: Jul. 05, 1996
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: Per Curiam.1 Of the more than fifty plaintiffs who joined in the, 1, action below, only some fourteen are participating in the, instant appeals.the punishment imposed by the sentencing court after trial.States v. Centeno-Torres, 50 F.3d 84, 85 (1st Cir.interest in receiving good-time credits.
USCA1 Opinion












July 5, 1996 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________


No. 95-1960
No. 95-2018

MARC E. WILDER, II, ET AL.,

Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION,
JOHN MARSHALL,

Defendants, Appellees.


____________________

APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Judge] ___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, ___________
Cyr and Stahl, Circuit Judges. ______________

____________________

Marc E. Wilder, II and Russell J. Carey on brief pro se. __________________ ________________
Nancy Ankers White, Special Assistant Attorney General, and ____________________
Margaret Melville, Counsel, Department of Correction, on brief for __________________
appellees.


____________________


____________________















Per Curiam. Prior to its repeal in 1994, a ___________

Massachusetts statute providing for the award of good-time

credits to state prisoners specifically withheld such credits

from inmates who had been convicted of enumerated sex

offenses. See Mass. Gen. L., ch. 127, 129. Plaintiffs ___

here, a group of prisoners serving sentences for sex crimes,

have brought an action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 challenging

this statutory exclusion on various constitutional grounds.1 1

The lower court rejected each of their claims at the summary

judgment stage. On the arguendo assumption that plaintiffs' ________

contentions are cognizable in a civil-rights action (rather

than a habeas corpus proceeding), we summarily affirm for the

reasons recited by the magistrate-judge in his June 23, 1995

report. We add only the following.

Underlying several of plaintiffs' claims is the

assertion that their inability to obtain good-time credits

constitutes a separate "punishment" apart from that incurred

at sentencing. This is mistaken. The statutory exclusion

was enacted in 1965, see Amado v. Superintendent, 366 Mass. ___ _____ ______________

45, 48 (1974) (reviewing statutory history)--long before any

of the plaintiffs had been convicted. Accordingly, their

ineligibility for such credits can only be viewed as part of


____________________

1 Of the more than fifty plaintiffs who joined in the 1
action below, only some fourteen are participating in the
instant appeals. We assume arguendo that each of the ________
appellants has properly invoked this court's jurisdiction.

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the punishment imposed by the sentencing court after trial.

Plaintiffs' assertion that the exclusion constitutes a bill

of attainder fails for this reason (among others). See, ___

e.g., United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 450 (1965). ____ ______________ _____

Their additional claim that the exclusion violates double

jeopardy (a claim which we assume arguendo is properly before ________

us) falters on the same ground. Even if the exclusion were

viewed as a cumulative punishment for the same offense,

double jeopardy would not be offended. See, e.g., United ___ ____ ______

States v. Centeno-Torres, 50 F.3d 84, 85 (1st Cir.) (per ______ ______________

curiam), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 208 (1995). ____________

The allegation that the exclusion violates due process

proves equally unavailing. Plaintiffs possess no liberty

interest in receiving good-time credits. See, e.g., Sandin ___ ____ ______

v. Conner, 115 S. Ct. 2293, 2297 (1995); Riddle v. Mondragon, ______ ______ _________

83 F.3d 1197, 1206-07 (10th Cir. 1996). And the statutory

scheme found violative of substantive due process in Young v. _____

Weston, 898 F. Supp. 744, 748-51 (W.D. Wash. 1995), a case on ______

which plaintiffs rely, bears no resemblance to the one before

us. Finally, the contention that the exclusion violates

equal protection runs into a wall of caselaw indicating

otherwise. See, e.g., Riddle, 83 F.3d at 1207-08; Artway v. ___ ____ ______ ______

Attorney General of New Jersey, 81 F.3d 1235, 1267-68 (3d ________________________________

Cir. 1996); Lustgarden v. Gunter, 966 F.2d 552, 555 (10th __________ ______





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Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1008 (1992); Amado, 366 Mass. ____________ _____

at 46-51.

Affirmed. See Loc. R. 27.1. ____________________________















































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Source:  CourtListener

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