Longval v. Commissioner of Correction

• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
• Writing for the Court: WILKINS
• Citation: 404 Mass. 325,535 N.E.2d 588
• Parties: Norman LONGVAL v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION et al. 1
• Decision Date: 13 March 1989

Page 588

535 N.E.2d 588 404 Mass. 325 Norman LONGVAL
v.
COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION et al. ¹ Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,
Norfolk. Argued Jan. 4, 1989.
March 13, 1989.

[404 Mass. 326]

Page 589

Judy G. Zeprun, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the Commissioner of correction.

Jonathan Shapiro, Boston, for plaintiff.

Before [404 Mass. 325] WILKINS, NOLAN, LYNCH and O'CONNOR, JJ.

[404 Mass. 326] WILKINS, Justice.

Once in 1983 and again in 1984, the plaintiff Longval, who was serving sentences for armed robbery, was transferred from the Massachusetts Correctional Institution

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at Walpole (Walpole), now known as Cedar Junction, to the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord (Concord) where he was placed in the administrative segregation unit. [404 Mass. 327] Longval sought and obtained a determination in the Superior Court that the defendants had violated (1) his right to due process under the State and Federal Constitutions, (2) the State Civil Rights Act (G.L. c. 12, § 11H & § 11I [1986 ed.] ), (3) the provision in G.L. c. 127, § 39 (1986 ed.), requiring the approval of the Commissioner of Correction (commissioner) of the transfer of an inmate to a segregated unit, and (4) certain regulations of the Department of Correction (department). We transferred the defendants' appeal to this court. We vacate the partial summary judgment entered in Longval's favor and agree with the judge's order denying the defendants' motion for summary judgment. ²

Longval asserts that his legal rights were violated when, on two occasions, he was transferred to a segregated unit without a hearing and without the authorization of the commissioner. He sought a declaration that his rights were violated, injunctive relief, and damages under the State Civil Rights Act. He makes no claim of a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1982).

We summarize the basic facts shown by affidavits and accompanying material and not disputed on the summary judgment record. On December 21, 1982, Longval, an inmate at Walpole, was found in possession of a large number of Valium tablets and received a disciplinary report for this major infraction. On December 31, 1982, a disciplinary board held a hearing on the disciplinary report. It found Longval guilty, imposed sanctions, and recommended that Longval be reviewed for classification to a higher Custody status. On January 25, 1983, because of overcrowding, Longval was transferred to Concord where, on the determination of the deputy superintendent, he was placed in the administrative segregation unit (A.S.U.), which has a maximum security rating. The deputy superintendent reviewed Longval's status from time to time. On July 27, 1983, Longval was returned to Walpole in segregation status. [404 Mass. 328] On August 11, 1983, the departmental segregation unit board recommended that Longval be placed in the general population, and, after the commissioner approved that recommendation, Longval joined the general population on August 18.

On January 3, 1984, Longval received a disciplinary report for refusing a room change. No disciplinary hearing or status review was ever held on this charge. On January 5, 1984, because of overcrowding, he was transferred to Concord where again he was placed in the A.S.U. The deputy superintendent made periodic determinations that Longval should remain in administrative segregation. On March 7, 1984, Longval was returned to the general population at Walpole.

We consider first the defendants' argument that Longval was not entitled to partial summary judgment. We agree with that contention. We then consider and reject the defendants' claim that they were entitled to summary judgment.

1. The partial summary judgment for Longval must be vacated. The motion judge's ruling that Longval was denied his rights under the regulations of the department and under due process principles rests principally on her conclusion that Longval's placement in the A.S.U. in Concord was shown to be the substantial equivalent of his being placed in a departmental segregation unit (D.S.U.). The judge stated that the conditions in the A.S.U. in Concord and in the D.S.U. in Walpole were "virtually identical," reciting only two minor differences between conditions in the A.S.U. in Concord and in the D.S.U. in Walpole. On the assumption the judge made, we agree that Longval should have received determinations and hearings that

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he did not receive and that the judge's conclusion that Longval was denied statutory and regulatory rights would have been correct. See Kenney v. Commissioner of Correction, 393 Mass. 28, 34, 468 N.E.2d 616 (1984) (an inmate may be transferred to a D.S.U. only in compliance with departmental regulations).

The factual question whether the rights of inmates held in the A.S.U. in Concord and the rights of those held in the D.S.U. in Walpole were substantially the same was a material one. Certainly, the department and the commissioner may not sidestep statutory and regulatory provisions stating the rights [404 Mass. 329] of an inmate as to his placement in a D.S.U. by assigning as a pretext another name to such a unit. See Royce v. Commissioner of Correction, 390 Mass. 425, 429-430, 456 N.E.2d 1127 (1983). If, however, the rights of inmates held in the two units were significantly different, the department's regulations concerning departmental segregation units (103 Code Mass.Regs. § 421.00 [1978] ), would not apply to the A.S.U. in Concord. ³ We have in the record guidelines established by the superintendent for the A.S.U. in Concord (103 CON § 421.00 [1982] ), but we do not have in the record the specific guidelines for the operation of the D.S.U. in Walpole. ⁴

Resolution of this factual question will determine whether G.L. c. 127, § 39 (1986 ed.), requiring the commissioner's authorization prior to the transfer of an inmate to any "segregated unit" in the Commonwealth, should be applied to the A.S.U. in Concord. The commissioner and others in the department appear to have interpreted G.L. c. 127, § 39, not to apply to...