Dawn Herndon v. Judy R. Upton, Warden
HabeasCorpus Immigration Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
A defendant in a federal criminal case receives a paradigmatic sentence -- a term of imprisonment, to be followed by a term of supervised release. While in prison, she files a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging that the Bureau of Prisons miscalculated her prison-release date, and will therefore over-incarcerate her. Before the court adjudicates that case, however, she completes her term of imprisonment and commences her term of supervised release.
Is her habeas case moot, even though the sentencing court can terminate or reduce her term of supervised release, and the over-incarceration, established in the habeas case, would constitute an "equitable consideration[] of great weight[]" in the sentencing court? Johnson v. United States, 529 U.S. 53, 60 (2000).
Whether a habeas case is moot when the defendant has completed their term of imprisonment and commenced supervised release, even though the sentencing court can terminate or reduce the supervised release term and the over-incarceration established in the habeas case would be an equitable consideration