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United States of America v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, et al

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Before Lipez, Siler, *fn1 and Howard, Circuit Judges.

In this appeal, the United States challenges the district court’s refusal to find the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in contempt for failing to comply with court-ordered measures aimed at improving conditions in the Commonwealth’s juvenile correctional facilities. The Commonwealth asserts, among other arguments, that we do not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal because it is either moot or unripe. Indeed, the remedial order at issue was suspended in early 2010, as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act (“PLRA”), because the Commonwealth’s motion to modify or terminate the order had been pending for 180 days. See 18 U.S.C. § 3626(e)(2)(A)(ii).

As a practical matter, then, the United States seeks to hold the Commonwealth in contempt for failing to abide by an order that is not presently in effect and may never be reactivated. Given the nature of civil contempt in this context as a forward-looking sanction, we can only conclude that this appeal is unripe. If we evaluated the correctness of the contempt ruling now, and the district court subsequently decided not to reinstate the remedial order, our decision would be an impermissible advisory opinion. See Ala. State Fed’n of Labor v. McAdory, 325 U.S. 450, 461 (1945) (noting the Court’s “considered practice not to decide abstract, hypothetical or contingent questions”); Chico Serv. Station, Inc. v. Sol P.R. Ltd., 633 F.3d 20, 35 (1st Cir. 2011) (“Article III ‘ensures that courts do not render advisoryopinions.’” (quoting Overseas Military Sales Corp. v. Giralt-Armada, 503 F.3d 12, 17 (1st Cir. 2007)); W.R. Grace & Co. v. EPA, 959 F.2d 360, 366 (1st Cir. 1992) (discussing ripeness and noting that, when a claim rests on contingent future events, it can “‘involve [judges] in deciding issues unnecessarily, wasting time and effort’” (quoting Roosevelt Campobello Int’l Park Comm’n v. EPA, 684 F.2d 1034, 1040 (1st Cir. 1982)). Hence, we dismiss the appeal as premature, with the expectation that the district court will act expeditiously on the pending PLRA motion.

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