BLD-293 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 15-1647
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DARRELL PARKS,
Appellant
v.
WARDEN LEWISBURG USP
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civil No. 1-13-cv-02886)
District Judge: Honorable Sylvia H. Rambo
____________________________________
Submitted for Possible Summary Action Pursuant
to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
August 6, 2015
Before: AMBRO, JORDAN and KRAUSE, Circuit Judges
(Filed: August 14, 2015)
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OPINION*
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PER CURIAM
Pro se appellant Darrell Parks, a federal inmate, appeals the District Court’s
dismissal of his habeas petition filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, in which Parks
*
This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.
requested expungement of an incident report from his prison disciplinary record.
Because the appeal fails to present a substantial question, we will summarily affirm the
District Court’s judgment. See 3d Cir. LAR 27.4 & I.O.P. 10.6.
The parties are familiar with the facts, which we only briefly summarize here.
Prison staff filed an incident report against Parks after he was accused by medical staff of
spitting out his medication. Parks denied spitting out the medication and claimed the
staff member mistook pieces of soap in his sink for pills. Parks was cited for misuse of
medication, refusing an order, making a false statement to staff, and interfering with a
staff member’s duties. After a hearing, he was found to have committed only the first of
those infractions and his visitation privileges were removed for thirty days. Parks filed a
petition for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming prison officials violated his right to due
process by not following their own procedures and by not offering him sufficient
opportunity to defend himself. The District Court dismissed the petition for lack of
jurisdiction and Parks appealed. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1291.1 We review the District Court’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction de novo.
See Emerald Investors Trust v. Gaunt Parsippany Partners, 492 F.3d 192, 197 (3d Cir.
2007). We may affirm a District Court's judgment on any grounds supported by the
record. Hughes v. Long, 242 F.3d 121, 122 n.1 (3d Cir. 2001).
1
Parks does not need a certificate of appealability because he is a federal prisoner
proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. See United States v. Cepero, 224 F.3d 256, 264-65
(3d Cir. 2000) (en banc), abrogated on other grounds by Gonzalez v. Thaler, 132 S. Ct.
641 (2012).
2
Section 2241 gives district courts jurisdiction over the “petition of a federal
prisoner who is challenging not the validity but the execution of his sentence.” Cardona
v. Bledsoe, 681 F.3d 533, 535 (3d Cir. 2012). To bring a valid petition under § 2241
attacking execution of his sentence, Parks would have to “allege that BOP’s conduct was
somehow inconsistent with a command or recommendation in the sentencing judgment.”
Id. at 537. A prisoner may not seek habeas relief under § 2241 based on a condition of
confinement unless a finding in his favor would result in a shorter sentence or earlier
release. See Leamer v. Fauver, 288 F.3d 532, 542 (3d Cir. 2002). The disciplinary
proceedings at issue here do not affect the length or fact of Parks’s sentence. Insofar as
he alleges that the disciplinary history could affect his chances for parole, the possibility
of a delay in parole is not sufficient to bring a claim within the ambit of § 2241. Id.
Parks’s claims were not properly brought in a habeas petition under § 2241, and the
District Court correctly dismissed his petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
There being no substantial question presented on appeal, we will summarily affirm
the judgment of the District Court.
3