Guerrero v. F.C.I. Otisville Warden
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:23-cv-00702
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Guerrero v. F.C.I. Otisville Warden, Judge Broderick denied the petition as moot and dismissed the case after Guerrero received the requested time credits.
Hermes Suarez Guerrero’s challenge to the Bureau of Prisons’ denial of First Step Act time credits was denied as moot and dismissed after he received the credits; the opinion also denied him a certificate of appealability and permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
What happened
In Guerrero v. F.C.I. Otisville Warden, Hermes Suarez Guerrero, a federal prisoner, claimed that the Bureau of Prisons improperly refused to award him sentence-reduction credits under the First Step Act. He asked the court to order the Bureau to grant those credits.
After a change in Bureau policy, Guerrero received the credits and was released from the federal prison. He was later detained by immigration authorities and removed from the United States, so the court found that he had already received the relief he requested.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick ruled that the petition was moot, meaning the court could no longer provide useful relief, and therefore denied it as moot and dismissed it. The judge also declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Guerrero v. F.C.I. Otisville Warden · No. 1:23-cv-00702
- Vernon Broderick
- July 14, 2023
Background
Hermes Suarez Guerrero filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging the Bureau of Prisons’ refusal to award him time credits under the First Step Act. He asked the court to direct the Bureau to grant the credits and reduce his sentence. Guerrero appeared without a lawyer.
After the petition was filed, a change in Bureau policy led to Guerrero receiving the requested time credits. He was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville on May 22, 2023. While he had been in Bureau custody, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had lodged a detainer against him. After his release, immigration authorities detained him, and he was removed from the United States on June 30, 2023.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that federal courts may decide only live disputes in which a favorable decision could still provide relief. A case becomes moot when the requested relief can no longer be given or is no longer needed. Once a case is moot, the court lacks authority to decide it.
The court concluded that Guerrero had received all the relief requested in his petition. Because no additional relief was available through the petition, the court held that the petition was moot and that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning authority to hear the case.
Disposition
Judge Vernon S. Broderick denied the petition as moot. In the conclusion, the court dismissed the petition, declined to issue a certificate of appealability because Guerrero had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment and close the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.