Irving Berry v. Teri Vandergriff

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri orders petitioner Irving Berry to show cause why his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition should not be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust available Missouri state-court remedies. Berry challenges the cancellation of parole release dates following his termination from Missouri’s Sexual Offender Program for refusing to admit guilt. The court denies his related motions without prejudice and allows 30 days to respond.

Holdings

1. Because Berry did not identify any state-court challenge to the Board of Probation and Parole’s cancellation of his release dates and did not show exceptional circumstances excusing exhaustion, the petition appeared subject to dismissal without prejudice for failure to exhaust available state remedies.
2. The three motions seeking restoration of parole release dates and related relief were denied without prejudice to refiling, if necessary, after resolution of the exhaustion and cognizability issues.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the § 2254 petition appeared subject to dismissal because Berry had not exhausted available Missouri state remedies challenging cancellation of his parole release dates.
2. Whether Berry’s three pending motions seeking restoration of parole release dates and related relief should be denied without prejudice while the exhaustion issue remained unresolved.

Disposition

other