Holly v. Montes

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Holly v. Montes

State: Illinois

Docket No: 105415 Rel

Case Date: 05/22/2008

Preview:Docket No. 105415.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

CHRISTOPHER HOLLY, Plaintiff, v. JORGE MONTES, Chairman of the Prisoner Review Board for the Illinois Department of Corrections, Defendant. Opinion filed May 22, 2008.

JUSTICE KILBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Thomas and Justices Freeman, Fitzgerald, Garman, and Karmeier concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Burke took no part in the decision.

OPINION The plaintiff, Christopher Holly, filed an original complaint for mandamus in this court under Supreme Court Rule 381 (188 Ill. 2d R. 381(c)). He sought an order directing the Prisoner Review Board (Board) to eliminate the condition of electronic home confinement (EHC) during his mandatory supervised release (MSR). Prior to oral argument on his complaint, however, Holly's EHC was terminated, and the electronic monitoring device was removed. The Board then moved to dismiss the complaint as moot. Nonetheless, we will address the issues raised in the complaint because they fall under the

public interest exception to the mootness doctrine. We also hold that the Board properly imposed EHC as one of Holly's MSR conditions, precluding a grant of mandamus relief. Therefore, we deny Holly's request for mandamus. BACKGROUND In 2002, Holly entered a negotiated guilty plea to second degree murder and concealing a homicide for acts he committed in 1996. Prior to accepting the plea, the circuit court admonished Holly about the potential sentences, including the statutorily required term of MSR. Holly received consecutive prison sentences of 15 and 5 years, respectively, as well as a term of MSR. In 2007, the Board imposed EHC as a special condition of his MSR. Subsequently, Holly filed a complaint for mandamus in this court, seeking an order directing the Board to enforce the terms of his plea bargain. According to Holly, EHC could not be included as a condition of his MSR because: (1) the Board had no statutory authority to impose EHC as an MSR condition; (2) EHC constituted unconstitutional imprisonment following the completion of his prison sentence; and (3) his due process rights were violated because EHC during his MSR was not part of the bargain he struck when he entered his negotiated plea. The Board countered that its authority to impose EHC as a condition of MSR was necessarily included in the legislature's broad grant of discretion. Moreover, the legislature specifically authorized EHC as a condition of MSR. Finally, the Board claimed that Holly was not deprived of due process or the benefit of his negotiated plea when the circuit court failed to admonish him that EHC could be a condition of his MSR. Only eight days before oral argument, Holly's parole agent removed his electronic monitoring bracelet and informed him that he was no longer subject to electronic home confinement. The Board then filed an emergency motion to dismiss Holly's mandamus action on mootness grounds. We declined to resolve the mootness issue at that time.

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ANALYSIS I. Mootness Initially, we address the Board's mootness claim. In both its emergency motion and oral argument, the Board argued that we should not consider Holly's mandamus complaint because we could no longer grant him effective relief after his release from EHC, the sole relief requested in the complaint. Holly maintains, however, that we should address the merits of his complaint because the Board continued to assert the legality of its conduct. In addition, he argues that the Board could reimpose EHC without warning or explanation, just as it had released him from EHC prior to oral argument, implicating both the recurrence and public interest exceptions to the mootness doctrine. When intervening events preclude a reviewing court from granting effective relief to a complaining party, an appeal is rendered moot. Felzak v. Hruby, 226 Ill. 2d 382, 391 (2007). Under the recurrence exception, however, we may review moot controversies where there is a "reasonable expectation that the same complaining party would be subject to the same action again and the action challenged [would] be of such short duration that it [could not] be fully litigated prior to its cessation." In re J.T., 221 Ill. 2d 338, 350 (2006). We decline to apply that exception in this case, however, because the Board's reimposition of EHC during Holly's remaining MSR term is purely speculative and does not create a "reasonable expectation" that he will be subjected to EHC again. Nonetheless, this court has also reviewed moot controversies under the public interest exception. That exception applies where "(1) the question is of a substantial public nature; (2) there is a need for an authoritative decision to provide future guidance; and (3) the situation is likely to recur." In re J.B., 204 Ill. 2d 382, 387 (2003). Unlike in the recurrence exception, the public interest exception considers potential recurrences to any entity, not only the complaining party. See In re Andrea F., 208 Ill. 2d 148, 157 (2003). Thus, we examine the applicability of the public interest exception in this case. By statute, every convicted felon in Illinois, except those serving natural life or death sentences, is required to serve a term of MSR. 730 ILCS 5/5

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