Cleavinger v. Saxner

• Decision Date: 10 December 1985
• Docket Number: No. 84-732,84-732
• Citation: 88 L.Ed.2d 507,474 U.S. 193,106 S.Ct. 496
• Parties: Theodore CLEAVINGER, Marvin Marcadis, and Tom P. Lockett, Petitioners, v. David SAXNER and Alfred Cain, Jr
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

474 U.S. 193

106 S.Ct. 496

88 L.Ed.2d 507

Theodore CLEAVINGER, Marvin Marcadis, and Tom P. Lockett, Petitioners,

v David SAXNER and Alfred Cain, Jr.

No. 84-732.

Argued Oct. 16, 1985.

Decided Dec. 10, 1985.

Syllabus

Respondent federal prison inmates were found guilty by the prison's Discipline Committee, composed of petitioner prison officials, of encouraging other inmates to engage in a work stoppage and of other charges, and were ordered to be placed in administrative detention and to forfeit a specified number of days of "good time." On appeals to the Warden and the Regional Director of the Bureau of Prisons, respondents were ordered released from administrative detention and all material relevant to the incident in question was ordered expunged from their records. They were later paroled and released. But in the meantime, they brought suit in Federal District Court against petitioners, alleging a violation of various federal constitutional rights and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and damages. After initially dismissing the complaint on the ground that petitioners were entitled to absolute immunity from liability, the District Court, on reconsideration, reinstated the suit. The case was tried to a jury, which found that petitioners had violated respondents' Fifth Amendment due process rights, and awarded damages. The Court of Appeals affirmed, rejecting petitioners' claim for absolute immunity.

Held: Petitioners are entitled to only qualified immunity. Pp. 199-208. 727 F.2d 669 (CA7 1984), affirmed.

BLACKMUN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BRENNAN, MARSHALL, POWELL, STEVENS, and O'CONNOR, JJ., joined. REHNQUIST, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BURGER, C.J., and WHITE, J., joined, post, p. 208.

Kenneth Steven Geller, Washington, D.C., for petitioners.

G. Flint Taylor, Jr., Chicago, Ill., for respondents.

Justice BLACKMUN delivered the opinion of the Court.

This case presents the issue whether members of a federal prison's Institution Discipline Committee, who hear cases in which inmates are charged with rules infractions, are entitled to absolute, as distinguished from qualified, immunity from personal damages liability for actions violative of the United States Constitution.

I

Respondents David Saxner and Alfred Cain, Jr., in January 1975 were inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution at Terre Haute, Ind. They were serving 4- and 5-year sentences, respectively, and each was within 18 months of a possible release date. Each was soon to appear before the parole board. The prison-conduct record of each was good.

On January 6, 1975, William Lowe, a Negro inmate at Terre Haute died in the prison hospital. He was the first of four Negro inmates to die there within the ensuing 7-month period. A work stoppage to protest Lowe's death took place at the prison on January 7 and 8. Respondent Saxner, a white inmate who had served as a "jailhouse lawyer," and respondent Cain, a Negro inmate who was the librarian for the African and New World Cultural Society, assert that neither of them participated in the stoppage. See Brief for Respondents 1. Each, however, was active in gathering information about Lowe's death and about conditions at the prison hospital, and in passing that information to the press, Members of Congress, prison officials, and Saxner's attor- ney.S¹ On February 14, respondents were cited in separate Incident Reports for encouraging other inmates to engage in work stoppage. App. 50, 52. Each was immediately placed in administrative segregation, that is, removed from the general inmate population, and assigned to a separate cell in an unused part of the hospital. See 28 CFR § 541.20(b) (1985).

On the following day, each respondent was given a copy of the Bureau of Prisons Policy Statement 7400.5c (subject: Inmate Discipline) (Oct. 4, 1974). See App. 25-49. Saxner signed a written notice which explained his rights at a hearing to be held before an Institution Discipline Committee. Among these were the right to have a written copy of the charge; the right to have a member of the prison staff represent him; the rights, except where institutional safety would be jeopardized, to be present at the hearing, to call witnesses, and to submit documentary evidence; and the right to receive a written explanation of the committee's decision. Id., at 54.² Although the record does not so disclose, we assume that respondent Cain received a similar notice at that time.

Respondents were brought before the Institution Discipline Committee on February 21. The committee was composed of petitioners Theodore Cleavinger, Associate Warden, as chairman; Marvin Marcadis, correctional supervisor; and Tom P. Lockett, chief of case management.³

Respondent Saxner was accompanied at the hearing by Ralph Smith, staff counselor, whom Saxner had selected to represent him. After reading the charge and reviewing Saxner's rights, the committee introduced Saxner's Incident Report and three documents found in his cell. These were, respectively, a "press release" Saxner had sent to 50 newspapers; a four-page document which detailed interviews with inmates about their medical treatment at the prison hospital; and a letter from Saxner to an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, Saunders, which enclosed the other two documents and which discussed medical conditions, possible litigation on behalf of the Lowe family and other inmates, communications with the press, and the obtaining of local counsel. The press release, among other things, advocated administrative approval of a prisoners' union and amnesty for those who had participated in the work stoppage. Id., at 81. Neither the investigating officer nor the charging officer nor any guard was called as a witness. Saxner, however, testified and introduced affidavits of several inmates. His request that he be permitted to call inmates to confirm that he did not encourage any work stoppage was denied on the ground that such testimony would be cumulative. While admitting that he had written the press release and had mailed it to persons outside the prison without authorization, Saxner asserted his innocence on the specific charge referred. Id., at 60, 71.

The committee found respondent Saxner guilty of encouraging a work stoppage. Also, although not specifically so charged, he was found guilty of unauthorized use of the mail and of possession of contraband, that is, material advocating an illegal prisoners' union. The committee ordered that Saxner be placed in administrative detention and forfeit 84 days of "good time." His transfer to another institution was recommended. Id., at 57.

Respondent Cain's hearing took place the same day before the same committee and immediately prior to Saxner's hearing. Id., at 64. He was accompanied by J.R. Alvarado, a staff representative. He was advised of his rights. His Incident Report was produced. Two documents found in his cell (Saxner's letter to Saunders and a manuscript concerning "Ideals and Proposals of the Prisoner Labor Union") were introduced. Cain testified and denied that he had encouraged inmates not to work. He requested the right to cross-examine his accusers, but no other witness was called.

At the conclusion of Cain's hearing, the committee found him guilty of encouraging a work stoppage and, although not specifically so charged, of possessing contraband, that is, "inflammatory material . . . supporting disruptive conduct in the institution." Id., at 65. The committee ordered that Cain be placed in administrative detention and forfeit 96 days of "good time." His transfer to another institution also was recommended. Ibid.

Respondents appealed to the Warden of the institution. The Warden ordered their release from administrative detention, restored the good time, and directed that each respondent's record carry a notation that "the incident not reflect unfavorably" upon consideration for parole. Id., at 74, 77. The Warden refused, however, to expunge respondents' records. Ibid. Saxner and Cain were released into the general prison population on March 21.

Respondents next appealed to the Regional Director of the Bureau of Prisons. The Regional Director ruled that the disciplinary report, the action by the committee on the incident, and material relevant thereto were to be expunged from each respondent's record. Id., at 79, 80. Thus, in the end, after these appeals, respondents obtained all the administrative relief they sought. But in the meantime, for a definite interval, each had been condemned (improperly as it turned out) to "administrative detention."

Respondent Saxner was paroled and released in April 1975. Respondent Cain was granted parole in June and released in December.

Meanwhile, in March 1975, respondents brought suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against petitioners, the Terre Haute Warden, and the institution's administrative supervisor. Their third amended complaint alleged that the defendants had violated their rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments. Id., at 12. See Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971). Respondents sought declaratory and injunctive relief and compensatory damages. App. 22.

The District Court granted petitioners' motion to dismiss the complaint on the ground that their functioning as hearing officers entitled them to absolute immunity. Nearly two years later, however, in April 1981, the District Court, on reconsideration, reinstated the suit in light of its controlling court's decision in Mary v. Ramsden, 635 F.2d 590 (CA7 1980), where the Court of Appeals held that members of a disciplinary committee at a Wisconsin juvenile facility were entitled to only qualified immunity. App. 23.

The case then was tried to a jury. In response to special interrogatories, the jury found that petitioners had violated respondents' ...