Gilmore v. Goord
Decision Date | 15 February 2006 |
Docket Number | No. 02-CV-6560L.,02-CV-6560L. |
Parties | Kenneth GILMORE, Jr., Plaintiff, v. Glen S. GOORD, et al., Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of New York |
Kenneth Gilmore, Jr., Staten Island, NY, pro se.
Emil J. Bove, Jr., Kelly Ann McCarthy, Tamara B. Christie, Office of the New York State Attorney General, Rochester, NY, for Defendants.
DECISION AND ORDER
Plaintiff, Kenneth Gilmore, appearing pro se, commenced this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff, an inmate in the custody of the New York State Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS"), alleges that defendants, all of whom at all relevant times were officials or employees of DOCS, violated his constitutional rights in connection with an Administrative Segregation Hearing held at Wyoming Correctional Facility in November 2000. Defendants have moved for summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
On November 8, 2000, DOCS Sergeant David Rice issued an Administrative Segregation Recommendation alleging that "Gilmore has a history of extortion and threats of violence towards other inmates," and recommending that he be placed in administrative segregation. Dkt. # 29 Ex. A. Based on that recommendation, plaintiff was placed in administrative segregation pending a hearing, which was held on November 13 before defendant Captain Kirk Gilbert.
After the hearing concluded, Gilbert issued a decision that same day, finding that "[s]ubstantial evidence has been presented to indicate that [Gilmore's] presence in general population would represent a threat to the safety and security of the facility," and that administrative segregation was therefore warranted. Dkt. # 29 Ex. C. Plaintiff remained in administrative segregation at Wyoming until November 27, 2000, when he was transferred to the Attica Correctional Facility, in general population. Dkt. # 29 Ex. B.
Plaintiff commenced this action on October 30, 2002. He alleges that Gilbert violated his rights to due process, equal protection, and "basic fairness" by refusing to call certain witnesses that plaintiff had requested and refusing plaintiff's request that Gilbert review certain documents. Plaintiff also alleges that the recommendation issued by Sergeant Rice was too vague to give plaintiff notice of the factual basis for the recommendation, so that plaintiff could prepare a defense. In addition to Gilbert, plaintiff has sued DOCS Commissioner Glenn Goord, Deputy Commissioner Lucien LeClaire, and Director of Inmate Discipline and Special Housing Donald Selsky.1 The basis for plaintiff's claims against Goord, LeClaire and Selsky is that they "fail[ed] to overturn [Gilbert's] determination . ..." Complaint ¶ 30.
In evaluating an inmate's due process claim with respect to confinement within prison, a court must consider "`(1) whether the plaintiff had a protected liberty interest in not being confined . . . and, if so, (2) whether the deprivation of that liberty interest occurred without due process of law.'" Tellier v. Fields, 280 F.3d 69, 79-80 (2d Cir.2000) (quoting Sealey v. Giltner, 116 F.3d 47, 51 (2d Cir.1997)). See also Taylor v. Rodriguez, 238 F.3d 188, 194 (2d Cir.2001) ( ). An inmate has a protected liberty interest in not being confined only if "the deprivation ... is atypical and significant and the state has created the liberty interest by statute or regulation." Tellier, 280 F.3d at 80 (quoting Frazier v. Coughlin, 81 F.3d 313, 317 (2d Cir.1996)); accord Cruz v. Gomez, 202 F.3d 593, 597 (2d Cir.2000).
Although determining whether a particular confinement "imposes [an] atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life," Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 484, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995), will involve factual determinations, Tellier, 280 F.3d at 80, "the ultimate issue of atypicality is one of law." Sealey v. Giltner, 197 F.3d 578, 585 (2d Cir.1999). Among the factors to be considered are "(1) the effect of disciplinary action on the length of prison confinement; (2) the extent to which the conditions of the disciplinary segregation differ from other routine prison conditions; and (3) the duration of the disciplinary segregation imposed compared to discretionary confinement." Wright v. Coughlin, 132 F.3d 133, 136 (2d Cir.1998) (citing Sandin, 515 U.S. at 484, 115 S.Ct. 2293).
While the Second Circuit has "not established a bright-line rule as to how lengthy a ... confinement will be considered atypical and significant," Sims v. Artuz, 230 F.3d 14, 23 (2d Cir.2000), the court in Sealey, 197 F.3d at 589-90, held that confinement of 101 days in the Special Housing Unit ("SHU") did not meet the Sandin standard. Although the court has stated that "under abnormal or unusual SHU conditions, periods of confinement of less than 101 days may implicate a liberty interest," Ortiz v. McBride, 380 F.3d 649, 654 (2d Cir.2004) (citing Palmer v. Richards, 364 F.3d 60, 65 (2d Cir.2004)), cert. denied, 543 U.S. 1187, 125 S.Ct. 1398, 161 L.Ed.2d 190 (2005), confinement for brief periods will typically not implicate an inmate's liberty interest absent "especially harsh conditions . ." Sealey, 197 F.3d at 586. See, e.g., Durran v. Selsky, 251 F.Supp.2d 1208, 1214 (W.D.N.Y.2003) ( ).
In the case at bar, plaintiff was kept in administrative segregation for nineteen days. In the absence of some unusually harsh conditions of confinement, that alone does not implicate a protected liberty interest. See Sealey, 197 F.3d at 587 ( ). Plaintiff has identified no such harsh or severe conditions; indeed, as will be discussed below, the focus of his claims of injury is on his subsequent transfer to Attica and the effect of Gilbert's determination on plaintiff's chances for parole. Any due process claims arising out of plaintiff's confinement in administrative segregation at Wyoming must therefore be dismissed.
Plaintiff alleges, and defendants do not appear to dispute, that Wyoming is a medium-security facility, and that Attica is a maximum-security facility. Plaintiff contends that the conditions at Attica were therefore more restrictive than those at Wyoming. For instance, he states that at Wyoming, he lived in a dormitory-type setting, with regular access to a telephone and access to a shower every morning, whereas at Attica he was locked in a small cell with limited access to a telephone and shower. Dkt. # 34 at 9.
These allegations also fail to give rise to a due process claim. "[A]n inmate has no justifiable expectation that he will be incarcerated in any particular prison within a State ... ." Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 245, 103 S.Ct. 1741, 75 L.Ed.2d 813 (1983). Therefore, transfers from one facility to another generally do not implicate any protected liberty interest, even if the transfer involves a change in security classification as well. See Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U.S. 236, 243, 96 S.Ct. 2543, 49 L.Ed.2d 466 (1976) (); Meachum v. Fano, 427 U.S. 215, 224-25, 96 S.Ct. 2532, 49 L.Ed.2d 451 (1976) ( ); Prins v. Coughlin, 76 F.3d 504, 507 (2d Cir.1996) (); Sher v. Coughlin, 739 F.2d 77, 81-82 (2d Cir.1984) ( ); Freeman v. Goord, No. 02 Civ. 9033, 2005 WL 3333465, at *10 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 7, 2005) ().
Plaintiff also alleges that Gilbert's findings either have had, or will have, a negative impact effect on the Parole Board's decision whether plaintiff should be released on parole. The Second Circuit has held, however, that New York's parole statute does not provide prisoners with a legitimate expectation of release. See Marvin v. Goord, 255 F.3d 40, 44 (2d Cir.2001); Barna v. Travis, 239 F.3d 169, 171 (2d Cir.2001). Plaintiff therefore had no protected liberty interest in parole, and this due process claim fails as well. Boothe v. Hammock, 605 F.2d 661, 664 (2d Cir.1979).
Plaintiff also contends that defendants have violated his right to equal protection. He contends that he was singled out for unfavorable treatment because of his activities as a "jailhouse lawyer."2 It is not clear if plaintiff is referring to his filing of grievances or lawsuits on his own behalf, or to legal assistance that he has rendered to other inmates, though he does indicate that at one point he served as an inmate representative to the Inmate Grievance Committee at Orleans Correctional Facility. See Dkt. # 34 Ex. A. Either way, this claim must also be dismissed.3
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