Mark Clark v. Lisa Menard, Commissioner
Mark Clark v. Lisa Menard, Commissioner
Opinion
¶ 1. Petitioner appeals pro se from the dismissal of his complaint regarding his eligibility for prison work camp. The trial court concluded that it lacked authority to review this Department of Corrections (DOC) programming decision. We agree and affirm.
¶ 2. Petitioner is an inmate under the custody and control of the DOC. He pled guilty to driving under the influence, fourth offense, in July 2016 pursuant to a plea agreement. The plea agreement included a "recommendation to work camp." The DOC subsequently deemed petitioner ineligible for work camp because petitioner had an earlier conviction that involved a violent assault against a law enforcement officer. Petitioner grieved this decision within the DOC, and his grievances were denied.
¶ 3. In January 2017, petitioner filed a complaint under Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 75 against the DOC Commissioner, challenging the DOC's eligibility decision. Petitioner noted that he was recommended to work camp as part of his plea agreement and that he was incarcerated for a nonviolent offense. He argued that he should not continue to suffer the consequences from his earlier assault conviction. Petitioner also asserted that the DOC's decision was unfair because another prisoner, who had been convicted of bank robbery, was participating in work camp.
¶ 4. The State moved to dismiss petitioner's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. It argued that work camp was a DOC program and the DOC's programming decisions were not subject to judicial review. See
Rheaume v. Pallito
,
¶ 5. We review the trial court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction "de novo, with all uncontroverted factual allegations of the complaint accepted as true and construed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party."
Rheaume
,
¶ 6. Petitioner contends that the DOC's decision violated his equal protection rights. We have recognized that a petitioner's constitutional claims are reviewable under Rule 75, and "[t]he fact that a colorable constitutional claim implicates a programming decision committed to the DOC's discretion does not insulate the alleged constitutional violation from judicial review."
In re Girouard
,
¶ 7. Petitioner next asserts that he was promised placement in work camp as part of his plea agreement. According to petitioner, this promise created a liberty interest in participating in work camp and receiving the good time credits associated with work camp, and he was deprived of this interest without due process. Petitioner cites
Sandin v. Conner
in support of his argument.
¶ 8. At the outset, we reject the premise of petitioner's argument. Petitioner's plea agreement does not contain any promise that he would be deemed eligible for work camp, nor would the court be in any position to make such promise. It contains only a "recommendation" for work camp, not a guarantee, assuming arguendo that such a guarantee could be made. We discern no "liberty interest" that petitioner acquired in work camp through his plea agreement or otherwise. See
Conway v. Gorczyk
,
¶ 9. Our case law makes clear that it is for the DOC to assess petitioner's eligibility for work camp. We held in
Rheaume
that "particular programming requirements ... are a matter of DOC discretion and as such are nonreviewable under Rule 75."
Affirmed .
While this appeal was pending, the State discovered that prior to filing the instant action, petitioner sought and obtained a sentence reduction based in part on his ineligibility for work camp. His sentence was reduced from five-to-ten years to three-to-eight years and the amended mittimus no longer contains a recommendation for work camp. The State moves to dismiss this appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that to the extent that petitioner's claim rested on a purported liberty interest created by his plea agreement, that claim is now moot. Because we conclude that dismissal was appropriate for the reason identified by the trial court, we find it unnecessary to address the State's mootness argument.
In his brief, petitioner refers to materials that are not part of the record below. Our review is limited to the record submitted in the superior court, and we have not considered any materials outside the record. See V.R.A.P. 10(a)(1) (stating that "record on appeal consists of the original documents, data, and exhibits filed ... in the superior court");
Gauthier v. Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mark CLARK v. Lisa MENARD, Commissioner
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published