FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION MAR 14 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JOHN STEELMAN, No. 11-56507
Petitioner-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:10-cv-06372-ODW
v.
MEMORANDUM*
SHAWN HATTON, Warden,
Respondent-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Otis D. Wright, II, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted March 8, 2017**
Before: LEAVY, W. FLETCHER, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.
John Steelman appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment denying his
28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging a 2009 decision by the Board of
Parole Hearings denying parole and deferring his next parole hearing in accordance
with California Penal Code § 3041.5 (“Marsy’s Law”).
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
This court issued a certificate of appealability (“COA”) on whether
application of Marsy’s Law to delay Steelman’s next parole hearing violates the Ex
Post Facto Clause. We vacate the COA as improvidently granted and dismiss this
appeal for lack of jurisdiction. See Nettles v. Grounds, 830 F.3d 922, 934-35 (9th
Cir. 2016) (en banc) (holding that claims fall outside “the core of habeas corpus” if
success will not necessarily lead to immediate or earlier release from confinement),
cert. denied, 580 U.S. __ (U.S. Jan. 9, 2017) (No. 16-6556); Phelps v. Alameda,
366 F.3d 722, 727-28, 730 (9th Cir. 2004) (merits panel has the power to rule on
the propriety of a COA).
The dismissal of this appeal does not preclude Steelman from pursuing
conditions of confinement claims in a properly filed civil rights action under 42
U.S.C. § 1983.
We treat Steelman’s additional arguments as a motion to expand the COA.
So treated, the motion is denied. See 9th Cir. R. 22-1(e); Hiivala v. Wood, 195
F.3d 1098, 1104-05 (9th Cir. 1999).
DISMISSED.
2 11-56507