The opinion
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
IAN M. DOUGHERTY, )
)
Petitioner, )
)
Vv. ) Civil Action No. 3:22-212
) Judge Nora Barry Fischer
PENNSYLVANIA BOARD OF PROBATION _ ) Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto
AND PAROLE, et al., )
)
Respondents. )
)
MEMORANDUM ORDER
AND NOW, this 16th day of January, 2025, upon consideration of the Report and
Recommendation filed by United States Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto on June 7, 2023, (Docket
No. 11), recommending that the § 2254 habeas petition filed by Petitioner Ian M. Dougherty
against the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, et al., wherein he challenges the denial of
parole and seeks release from state custody to parole, be denied, without a certificate of
appealability, Petitioner’s objections which were timely filed within 14 days as directed by the
Magistrate Judge, (Docket No. 13), and upon independent review of the record and de novo
consideration of the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation of December 18, 2024,
(Docket No. 11), which is ADOPTED as the opinion of this Court, as supplemented herein,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Petitioner’s Objections (Docket No. 13) are
OVERRULED;
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Petition (Docket No. 6) is DENIED, for the reasons
set forth in the Report and Recommendation. It also appears to the Court from the DOC Inmate
Locator that the Petitioner has been released on parole such that the Petition (Docket No. 6) must
be DISMISSED, as moot, see e.g., Malik v. Warden Loretto FCI, No. 23-2281, 2024 WL 3649570,
at *2 (3d Cir. Aug. 5, 2024) (“Because Malik had been released to prerelease custody, his request
for release to such custody was moot.”); Lee v. Superintendent Greene SCI, No. 15-2412, 2016 WL
11786206, at *1 (3d Cir. Jan. 13, 2016) (denying certificate of appealability to petitioner regarding
habeas petition challenging denial of parole because he was released from custody on parole and
did not show any collateral consequences such that his petition was moot); Fitzgerald v.
Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, 2024 WL 4755397, at *2 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 31, 2024)
(“Fitzgerald is no longer incarcerated. He was granted parole in July 2024 and was released to
parole in October 2024. Accordingly, there is no relief that this Court can provide to him and this
habeas case is now moot.”);
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no certificate of appealability shall issue as Petitioner has
not made a substantial showing of a denial of a Constitutional right; and,
FINALLY, IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall mark this case CLOSED.
s/Nora Barry Fischer
Nora Barry Fischer
Senior U.S. District Judge
cc/ecf: Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto
ce: IAN M. DOUGHERTY
MN-7987
SCI HOUTZDALE
P.O. Box 1000
209 Institution Drive
Houtzdale, PA 16698-1000 (via first class mail)