Filed: Nov. 05, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _ No. 17-1773 _ LACEY STRADFORD; WILLIAM NETTLES; JESSE STROUD; WILLIAM SCOTT, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellants v. SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS _ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 2-16-cv-02064) Chief District Judge: Hon. Juan R. Sanchez _ Argued on September 28, 2017 _ Before: SMITH, Chief Jud
Summary: NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _ No. 17-1773 _ LACEY STRADFORD; WILLIAM NETTLES; JESSE STROUD; WILLIAM SCOTT, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Appellants v. SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS _ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 2-16-cv-02064) Chief District Judge: Hon. Juan R. Sanchez _ Argued on September 28, 2017 _ Before: SMITH, Chief Judg..
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
_____________
No. 17-1773
_____________
LACEY STRADFORD; WILLIAM NETTLES;
JESSE STROUD; WILLIAM SCOTT,
on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated,
Appellants
v.
SECRETARY PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
______________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil Action No. 2-16-cv-02064)
Chief District Judge: Hon. Juan R. Sanchez
______________
Argued on September 28, 2017
______________
Before: SMITH, Chief Judge, McKEE and RESTREPO, Circuit Judges.
(Filed: November 5, 2019)
Donald Driscoll [ARGUED]
Community Justice Project
100 Fifth Avenue
Suite 900
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz
Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project
429 Forbes Avenue
Suite 800
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Counsel for Appellants
Timothy A. Holmes
Debra S. Rand [ARGUED]
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
Office of Chief Counsel
1920 Technology Parkway
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Counsel for Appellee
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OPINION*
______________
RESTREPO, Circuit Judge.
Plaintiffs are challenging a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (“DOC”)
policy regarding the timing of halfway house placement for individuals with a sex
offense classification who have been granted parole. When the Complaint was filed,
Plaintiffs claimed that the DOC policy violated their equal protection rights because it
prohibited their placement in halfway houses until two years before their maximum
sentence date, a restriction that did not apply to other prisoners. Stradford v. Wetzel, No.
16-2064,
2017 WL 1196656, at *1 (E.D. Pa. March 31, 2017). The District Court
granted Defendant’s motion to dismiss with prejudice, and without leave to amend,
*
This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does
not constitute binding precedent.
2
concluding that “any attempt of Plaintiffs to cure their equal protection claim would be
futile, as Defendant has a rational basis for the policy at issue.”
Id. at *4.
Plaintiffs appealed this Judgment. After we heard argument, the DOC changed the
policy at issue. Individuals with a sex offense classification who have been granted
parole are now eligible to live in a DOC-operated halfway house at the time of referral.
As a result, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the appeal as moot, which Plaintiffs
opposed. We vacated the Judgment and ordered a limited remand to the District Court
with instructions to develop the factual record as necessary, to determine whether the
case is moot, and to enter an appropriate order. We retained jurisdiction over the appeal
pending the District Court’s disposition of the limited remand. See Forbes v. Twp. of
Lower Merion,
313 F.3d 144, 151 (3d Cir. 2002).
The District Court permitted limited discovery, briefing, and argument on the
mootness question. Plaintiffs claim that even under the new DOC policy they are still
facing delays in halfway house placement that individuals who do not have a sex offense
classification do not face. The District Court found that the change in the DOC policy
did not moot Plaintiffs’ claim based on evidence that suggested only individuals with sex
offense classifications who have been granted parole are first sent to Progress
Community Corrections Center (“CCC”) before being placed in a less secure DOC-
operated halfway house. Following the District Court’s Order, we issued an Order for
supplemental briefing to address the ruling that the case is not moot.
We agree with the District Court’s conclusion that the matter is not moot.
However, our review on appeal is limited to the claims raised in the Complaint. Plaintiffs
3
current claim is that the initial parole of sex offenders to Progress CCC (a secure CCC)
prior to release to a less secure CCC is an unconstitutional delay. This claim was not
plead, and the District Court therefore did not consider whether it has a rational basis.
See In re City of Phila. Litig.,
158 F.3d 723 (3d Cir. 1998) (noting the “well established
principle that it is inappropriate for an appellate court to consider a contention raised on
appeal that was not initially presented to the district court”). Given the change in
Defendant’s policy, it is apparent that amendment of the Complaint would not be
futile. Leave to amend ordinarily should be granted where amendment would not be
futile. See, e.g., In re Burlington Coat Factory Sec. Litig.,
114 F.3d 1410, 1434-35 (3d
Cir. 1997). Therefore, we remand for the District Court to grant Plaintiffs leave to amend
their Complaint to include their “Progress CCC” claim.1
1
Nothing in this Opinion should be read to limit the District Court’s discretion as to
whether any further discovery is necessary.
4