Sorodsky v. Keyser
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:19-cv-05389-PAE-BCM
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sorodosky v. Keyser, Judge Engelmayer dismissed the amended petition as moot after Sorodosky left parole supervision.
Michail Sorodosky’s amended petition was dismissed, ending this proceeding; the respondents were William F. Keyser, Jr., and the other respondents named in the caption.
What happened
In Sorodosky v. Keyser, Michail Sorodosky challenged proceedings that revoked his parole. While the case was pending, his lawyer told the court that he had been discharged from parole supervision.
The court explained that a petition becomes moot when the person is released from custody unless continuing effects from the parole revocation remain. The court understood the lawyer’s letter to mean that Sorodosky had not experienced and was not continuing to experience such effects.
Judge Engelmayer dismissed the amended petition as moot and directed the clerk to close the case.
The detailed version
- Sorodsky v. Keyser · No. 1:19-cv-05389-PAE-BCM
- Paul Engelmayer
- Aug. 18, 2023
Background
Michail Sorodosky filed an amended petition challenging parole-revocation proceedings. During the period after he filed the petition, he was discharged from parole supervision. His counsel sent the court a letter stating that, because of that discharge, the petition had become moot.
Court’s reasoning
A matter is moot when there is no longer a live dispute for the court to resolve. The court explained that mootness must be considered throughout a petition proceeding, not only when the petition is filed. When a person challenges parole-revocation proceedings, release from custody generally makes the petition moot unless the person shows continuing effects—called collateral consequences—resulting from the revocation.
The court construed counsel’s letter as representing that Sorodosky had neither experienced nor continued to experience collateral consequences from the parole revocation. It therefore concluded that the petition no longer presented a live controversy.
Ruling
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer dismissed the amended petition as moot. The court also directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.