Summary
The court grants Pascal Gedeon leave to proceed in forma pauperis in his civil rights action concerning access to the Bureau of Prisons’ TRULINCS messaging service. It dismisses without prejudice as moot the claims concerning his former custody at FDC Philadelphia and transfers the claims concerning his current custody at FCI Loretto to the Western District of Pennsylvania for improper venue.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Gedeon's claims for declaratory and injunctive relief concerning restrictions at FDC Philadelphia became moot after his transfer to FCI Loretto.
- Whether declaratory relief could adjudicate the alleged past conduct at FDC Philadelphia.
- Whether claims concerning Gedeon's current confinement and Trulincs restrictions at FCI Loretto should be transferred to the Western District of Pennsylvania under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).
- Whether claims challenging portions of Gedeon's criminal sentence were barred by Heck v. Humphrey.
Holdings
- An inmate's transfer from the facility where the challenged conditions arose generally moots claims for injunctive and declaratory relief concerning that facility when there is no indication the inmate will return.
- Declaratory relief is not available solely to adjudicate past conduct or to declare that one party is liable to another.
- Claims concerning Gedeon's current confinement and restrictions at FCI Loretto should be transferred sua sponte to the Western District of Pennsylvania under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), because the claims arose there and the institution, witnesses, records, and current custody are located there.
- To the extent Gedeon challenged portions of his sentence, those claims were barred by Heck v. Humphrey and had to be pursued in his criminal case on appeal.
Key quotations
“An inmate’s transfer from the facility complained of generally moots the equitable and declaratory claims.” (at 3)
“transfer to another institution moots any claims for injunctive or declaratory relief.” (at 4)
“For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought.” (at 5)
“Applying these factors and in the interests of justice, the claims involving Gedeon’s use of Trulincs at FCI Loretto should be transferred to the Western District where the institution is located, since that is where his claim arose and where he, witnesses, and any records concerning his restrictions and current custody are located.” (at 7)
Factual background
Gedeon, a federal prisoner convicted and sentenced on child-pornography charges, alleged that the Bureau of Prisons denied him access to Trulincs, a messaging service, while he was housed at FDC Philadelphia and after his transfer to FCI Loretto. He alleged that the restriction was related to the nature of his conviction and violated his First Amendment rights, and sought declaratory and injunctive relief. His spouse resides in Haiti, and he claimed Trulincs was a less expensive means of communicating with her than telephone service.
Procedural history
Gedeon filed a complaint alleging that he was denied access to the Bureau of Prisons' Trulincs messaging service while confined at FDC Philadelphia and FCI Loretto. The court granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, dismissed without prejudice claims concerning FDC Philadelphia as moot and for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and transferred claims concerning FCI Loretto to the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Remand instructions
The claims involving Gedeon's custody at FCI Loretto are to be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The claims involving FDC Philadelphia are dismissed without prejudice.