6
Opinion of the Court
Over petitioner's objections, the District Court granted the State two requested extensions of time to respond to the petition, deferring the deadline from June 2, 1993, until July 7, 1993. On July 14, 1993, after receiving the State's response, petitioner filed a lengthy "Motion and Request for Final Disposition of this Matter," in which he requested that the District Court expedite decision on his case in order to prevent his claim from becoming moot. Before the District Court responded to this motion, however, on August 7, 1993, petitioner was re-released on parole, and, two months after that, on October 16, 1993, the term of his imprisonment expired. On February 3, 1994, the District Court "noted" petitioner's July motion, stating that "[t]he resolution of this case will not be delayed beyond the requirements of this Court's docket." App. 127. Then, on August 23, 1995, the District Court dismissed petitioner's habeas petition. "Because," it said, "the sentences at issue here have expired, petitioner is no longer 'in custody' within the meaning of 28 U. S. C. § 2254(a), and his claim for habeas corpus relief is moot." Id., at 130.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the District Court's judgment,2 concluding that, under our decision in Lane v. Williams, 455 U. S. 624, 632 (1982), petitioner's claim had become moot because he suffered no "collateral consequences" of the revocation order. 91 F. 3d 1114 (1996). (It acknowledged that this interpretation of Lane did not accord with that of the Second and Ninth Circuits in United States v. Parker, 952 F. 2d 31 (CA2 1991),
statement within ten working days from the date of the decision." See Brief for Petitioner 5-6.
2 By the time the case reached the Eighth Circuit, petitioner was once again in prison, this time serving a 7-year sentence for attempted felony stealing. He is still there, and the State informs us that he is scheduled to be released on parole on January 24, 1999. See Brief for Respondents 8, n. 4.
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007