Lile v. Simmons

• Citation: 143 F.Supp.2d 1267
• Decision Date: 20 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. CIV. A. 00-3172-KHV.,CIV. A. 00-3172-KHV.
• Parties: Robert G. LILE, Plaintiff, v. Charles E. SIMMONS and David R. McKune, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Kansas

143 F.Supp.2d 1267

Robert G. LILE, Plaintiff, v. Charles E. SIMMONS and David R. McKune, Defendants.

No. CIV. A. 00-3172-KHV.

United States District Court, D. Kansas.

April 20, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert G. Lile, Lansing, KS, pro se.

Brian R. Johnson, Office of Atty. Gen., Topeka, KS, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

VRATIL, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment (Doc. # 32) filed February 13, 2001; plaintiff's Motion For The Appointment Of Counsel (Doc. # 31) filed January 24, 2001; and plaintiff's Motion For Class Action Determination (Doc. # 30) filed January 24, 2001. For reasons set forth below, defendants' motion for summary judgment is sustained and plaintiff's motions are overruled.

I. Defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment Summary Judgment Standards

Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); accord Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Vitkus v. Beatrice Co., 11 F.3d 1535, 1538-39 (10th Cir.1993). A factual dispute is "material" only if it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A "genuine" factual dispute requires more than a mere scintilla of evidence. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

The moving party bears the initial burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Hicks v. City of Watonga, 942 F.2d 737, 743 (10th Cir.1991). Once the moving party meets its burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to demonstrate that genuine issues remain for trial "as to those dispositive matters for which it carries the burden of proof." Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Sec., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir.1990); see also Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586-87, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir.1991). The nonmoving party may not rest on its pleadings but must set forth specific facts. Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241.

"[W]e must view the record in a light most favorable to the parties opposing the motion for summary judgment." Deepwater Invs., Ltd. v. Jackson Hole Ski Corp., 938 F.2d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir.1991). Summary judgment may be granted if the nonmoving party's evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505. "In a response to a motion for summary judgment, a party cannot rely on ignorance of facts, on speculation, or on suspicion, and may not escape summary judgment in the mere hope that something will turn up at trial." Conaway v. Smith, 853 F.2d 789, 794 (10th Cir.1988). Essentially, the inquiry is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

In pro se prisoner litigation, the Tenth Circuit endorses the completion and filing of a "Martinez report" where the prison constructs an administrative record detailing the factual investigation of the events at issue. See Martinez v. Aaron, 570 F.2d 317, 319 (10th Cir.1978). The Martinez report "is treated like an affidavit, and the court is not authorized to accept the factual findings of the prison investigation when the plaintiff has presented conflicting evidence." Green v. Branson, 108 F.3d 1296, 1302 (10th Cir. 1997) (citing Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1111 (10th Cir.1991)). The pro se prisoner's complaint, when sworn and made under a penalty of perjury, is also treated as an affidavit and, like the Martinez report, serves as evidence for a summary judgment determination. See id.

Factual Background

The following facts are uncontroverted, deemed admitted or, where disputed, viewed in the light most favorable to plaintiff.

Plaintiff is an inmate at the Lansing Correctional Facility ("LCF") in Lansing, Kansas. Charles E. Simmons is Secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections ("KDOC") and David R. McKune is Warden at LCF.

The KDOC utilizes a custody classification system that is intended to predict the risks which an offender poses within a correctional facility and outside a correctional facility, to the general public, if the offender should escape. The classification system is set forth in the KDOC Custody Classification Manual. The four custody classification levels are minimum, medium, maximum and special management. Inmates who are in administrative or disciplinary segregation or who have not yet been evaluated are classified as special management.

Plaintiff was convicted of aggravated kidnaping, rape and aggravated sodomy. In 1983, during his first year of incarceration, plaintiff was also convicted of attempted aggravated escape from custody. Due to the nature of his convictions, the KDOC placed him in maximum security. In 1989, because of good behavior, the KDOC changed plaintiff's security classification to "medium by exception." In 1994, plaintiff requested a security classification of "minimum by exception," which the KDOC denied. See Lile v. Simmons, 23 Kan.App.2d 1, 2, 929 P.2d 171, 172 (1996). In a prior lawsuit in state court, plaintiff alleged that prison authorities violated his constitutional rights in denying this request. See id. The state district court dismissed plaintiff's claims. On appeal, the Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that "Kansas law does not create a liberty interest regarding a prison inmate's security classification." 23 Kan.App.2d at 4, 929 P.2d at 173.

Plaintiff currently has a custody classification score of nine points. In calculating his score, the KDOC gave plaintiff three points because of the length of his minimum sentence (29.5 years to life), two points because of the nature of his crime (aggravated kidnaping), and four points because of an attempted escape from a maximum security correctional facility over five years ago. Because plaintiff had a score of at least four points but less than ten points, he received a "medium" security classification pursuant to the KDOC Custody Classification Manual.¹

In addition to the above custody classification system, the KDOC conducts an "In-House System Risk for Custody Assessment" ("In-House Risk Assessment") to determine the security threat which each inmate poses. The assessment attempts to evaluate the inmate's motivation to escape, based on the possibility that civil commitment proceedings may be initiated against that inmate when his or her prison term expires.² The In-House Risk Assessment impacts an inmate's custody classification only if (1) the assessment concludes that the inmate has a high probability of facing civil commitment proceedings on release from prison and (2) the inmate otherwise has a "minimum" security classification. If an inmate satisfies both conditions, the KDOC transfers the inmate from minimum to medium security.

The In-House Risk Assessment concluded that plaintiff was a "medium risk" of civil commitment proceedings. Moreover as explained above, plaintiff had a "medium" security classification pursuant to the KDOC Custody Classification Manual. Plaintiff therefore remained in medium security and his In-House Risk Assessment did not impact his security classification level.

The In-House Risk Assessment is intended to predict the outcome of the Multi-Disciplinary Team Assessment ("MDT Assessment"). The Attorney General for the State of Kansas uses the MDT Assessment to determine whether civil commitment procedures should be initiated upon an inmate's release from prison, pursuant to the Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act, K.S.A. § 59-29a01 et seq. The MDT Assessment is not conducted until an individual receives an anticipated release date. Plaintiff has not been granted parole, and he does not have an anticipated release date. Accordingly, no MDT Assessment has been conducted on plaintiff.

Plaintiff alleges that in addition to the In-House Risk Assessment and the MDT Assessment, the KDOC conducts a Mental Health Assessment on certain inmates. Plaintiff does not allege that the KDOC has conducted or intends to conduct such an assessment on him, and the record does not provide any detail as to this fact.

Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and those similarly situated, alleges that defendants denied him procedural due process with respect to his In-House Risk Assessment. He also challenges the Mental Health Assessment procedure. Plaintiff does not challenge the MDT Assessment process.

Analysis

A. In-House Risk Assessment

1. Procedural Due Process

To establish a violation of procedural due process rights based on his custody classification level, plaintiff must establish (1) that he had a protected liberty interest in receiving a new or retaining a current custody classification and (2) that defendants' actions adversely affected that interest without the protections of due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. See Slezak v. Evatt, 21 F.3d 590, 593-94 (4th Cir.) (citing Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 555-57, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974)), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 889, 115 S.Ct. 235, 130 L.Ed.2d 158 (1994).

The procedural due process clause applies only if defendants deprived plaintiff of a liberty or property interest. See Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995). Prison officials are granted broad discretionary authority over the institutions they manage. Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 467, 103 S.Ct. 864, 74 L.Ed.2d 675...