Mescall v. U.S. Department of Justice

Background

Sean Fitzgerald Mescall, who was representing himself and had been released by the Bureau of Prisons to home confinement, brought this action seeking injunctive relief concerning his monitoring. He sought release from home confinement to post-release supervision, arguing that credits earned under the First Step Act entitled him to that release. The court had previously allowed him to proceed without prepaying filing fees.

Mescall also had a pending petition in the Eastern District of New York challenging his confinement on the same earned-credits theory.

Release Claim

The court explained that a claim affecting the fact or duration of confinement must be brought in a petition challenging the confinement, rather than in a civil-rights action. Because Mescall’s request for release affected the fact or duration of his confinement, he could not pursue that request in this case.

The court declined to convert this action, in part, into a petition challenging confinement because Mescall already had a pending petition raising the same argument. It therefore dismissed without prejudice Mescall’s claim seeking release to post-release supervision.

Adding a Defendant and Service

The court granted Mescall’s application to amend the caption and directed the Clerk to add the Bureau of Prisons’ Residential Reentry Management field office in New York as a defendant.

Because Mescall was allowed to proceed without prepaying fees, the court directed the Clerk to prepare summonses and service forms and to provide the necessary documents to the U.S. Marshals Service. The instructions covered the federal defendants—the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Attorney General, United States, and the newly added field office—as well as Jessica Ortiz and Magaly Cosme. The court stated that service was to occur within 90 days after the summonses were issued, and that Mescall should request an extension if service was not completed within that period.

Other Directions and Disposition

The court also directed that an information package be provided to Mescall and required him to notify the court in writing if his address changed. It certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The order therefore dismissed without prejudice only the claim seeking release to post-release supervision, granted the application to add the Residential Reentry Management field office in New York, and directed service-related steps for the defendants.