Scarpa v. Ponte

• Decision Date: 02 July 1986
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 83-0185-W.
• Citation: 638 F. Supp. 1019
• Parties: Nazzaro SCARPA, Plaintiff, v. Joseph PONTE, Francis Millette, Steven Goldrick, and Richard England, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

638 F. Supp. 1019

Nazzaro SCARPA, Plaintiff, v. Joseph PONTE, Francis Millette, Steven Goldrick, and Richard England, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 83-0185-W.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

July 2, 1986.

Nelson G. Apjohn, Nutter, McClennen & Fish, Boston, Mass., for plaintiff.

Mary Ann Horcher, Dept. of Correction, Boston, Mass., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WOLF, District Judge.

Plaintiff Nazzaro Scarpa, a prisoner at Massachusetts Correctional Institute at Walpole ("M.C.I., Walpole"), has brought this action against Joseph Ponte, Superintendent of M.C.I., Walpole, and Francis Millette, Steven Goldrick, and Richard England, the three members of a prison disciplinary board that sentenced Scarpa to ten days in isolation for writing an allegedly disrespectful and threatening letter to defendant Ponte. Scarpa claims that defendants violated his free speech rights under the First Amendment and his due process rights under Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. His cause of action arises under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Scarpa has filed a motion for summary judgment on three of the four counts in his complaint. He also seeks a ruling that defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. Defendants have filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on all of the counts in the complaint. The parties have filed memoranda, affidavits, and various exhibits in support of their motions. The court heard oral arguments on February 27, 1986.

For the reasons stated below, the court grants summary judgment for Scarpa on his due process claim. The court denies summary judgment on the First Amendment claim because it involves disputed issues of material fact. Finally, summary judgment is granted for Scarpa on the qualified immunity issue because the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights allegedly violated were clearly established and should have been recognized by the defendants at the time his cause of action accrued. Defendants' motion for summary judgment is denied.

As discussed in detail below, the court recognizes that prison officials have considerable discretion in disciplining prisoners. This does not, however, include the discretion to punish a prisoner for statements he has made without a legitimate penological objective. The broad discretion granted to prison officials in this sensitive area carries with it a responsibility to state clearly the reasons why punishment of expression has been determined to be appropriate. This requirement was not met in this case.

I. FACTS

Unless otherwise specified, the following facts are not disputed. On or about October 26, 1982, defendant Ponte received a letter from Nazarro Scarpa, an inmate at M.C.I., Walpole. In this letter, Scarpa threatened to "haul Ponte's behind into court" if he did not dismiss a disciplinary report that was pending against Scarpa. The tone and the language of the letter was arguably mocking, taunting, and disrespectful.¹

Ponte responded to this letter by filing another disciplinary report ("D.R. No. 82-3223") against Scarpa. See Exhibit B to Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support of His Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (hereinafter "Plaintiff's Initial Memorandum"). He alleged that Scarpa had committed two disciplinary offenses under 103 Code of Mass. Regs. § 430.22:

(a) Disobeying an order of, lying to, or insolence toward a staff member. 103 C.M.R. § 430.22(1).

(b) Fighting with, assaulting or threatening another person with any offense against his person or property. 103 C.M.R. § 430.22(18).

Ponte's disciplinary report also stated that he found "the remarks contained in this correspondence to be disrespectful and threatening."

On October 28, 1982, the prison gave Scarpa a copy of the disciplinary report and a Notice of Disciplinary Hearing.

On November 5, 1982, a prison disciplinary board, composed of defendants Millette, Goldrick, and England, held a hearing on Ponte's charges against Scarpa. Scarpa and Ponte both attended the hearing. It is undisputed that the disciplinary board had a copy of the letter at the hearing, and that Scarpa asked the disciplinary board to give him a copy of the letter on which Ponte's charges were based. Scarpa alleges that the board never gave him a copy of the letter. Affidavit of Nazzaro Scarpa (March 13, 1986) (hereinafter "Scarpa Aff.") ¶ 2 (attached to Plaintiff's Second Supplemental Memorandum in Support of his Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and in Opposition to Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment). Defendant Millette, who was chairman of the disciplinary board in 1982, concedes that Scarpa asked for a copy of his letter at the disciplinary hearing. Millette asserts that he told Scarpa he would supply him with a copy. Millette further claims that if Scarpa asked to refer to Millette's copy of the letter during the hearing, he surely would have let him see it, as it was Millette's usual practice to grant such requests. Affidavit of Francis J. Millette, Jr. (March 11, 1986) (hereinafter "Millette Aff.") ¶ 2 (attached to Defendants' Supplemental Memorandum in Support of Their Motion for Summary Judgment).

The disciplinary board found Scarpa guilty of the offenses charged and imposed a sanction of ten days in isolation, which Scarpa served. The disciplinary board issued a one-page written decision the same day. Exhibit C to Plaintiff's Initial Memorandum. Scarpa appealed the disciplinary board's decision to Brian G. Gendron, the Associate Commissioner of Operations for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. On November 22, 1982, Gendron denied Scarpa's appeal.

On March 29, 1983, Scarpa filed his complaint in this action, alleging that the defendants who sat on the disciplinary board violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment (Count I) and his free speech rights under the First Amendment (Count II). Scarpa also alleges that defendant Ponte violated his due process rights (Count III) and First Amendment rights (Count IV). He seeks both punitive and compensatory damages. Scarpa has moved for summary judgment on his due process and First Amendment claims against the members of the disciplinary board and on his First Amendment claims against Ponte. He also argues that, as a matter of law, defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. Defendants seek summary judgment of all four counts of the complaint.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

As a threshold matter, the court's discretion to grant summary judgment is governed by Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Under Rule 56(c), the court may grant summary judgment only "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." In addition, "the court must look at the record in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion and must indulge all inferences favorable to that party." Stepanischen v. Merchants Despatch Transportation Corp., 722 F.2d 922, 928 (1st Cir. 1983) (citing Hahn v. Sargent, 523 F.2d 461, 464 (1st Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 904, 96 S.Ct. 1495, 47 L.Ed.2d 754 (1976)). For the purposes of this action, it is also necessary to note that the court must be "particularly cautious" about granting summary judgment in cases involving the state of mind of one of the parties. Stepanischen, 722 F.2d at 928.

III. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The cross-motions for summary judgment raise three issues. First, Scarpa claims that the members of the disciplinary board violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by failing to give him a copy of the letter he wrote to Ponte and by failing to give adequate reasons for finding him guilty and sentencing him to ten days in isolation. Second, Scarpa asserts that Ponte and the members of the disciplinary board violated his First Amendment rights by punishing him for the content of his letter. Third, Scarpa claims that defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity because his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments were clearly established at the time he was wrongly punished.²

A. Due Process Claims

It is well-settled that "`lawful incarceration brings about the necessary withdrawal or limitation of many privileges and rights, a retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system.'" Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 822, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 2804, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974) (quoting Price v. Johnston, 334 U.S. 266, 285, 68 S.Ct. 1049, 1060, 92 L.Ed. 1356 (1948)). This is not to say that a prisoner loses all of his constitutional protections while incarcerated. For instance, the Supreme Court has held that prisoners may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 556, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 2974-75, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974).

Scarpa claims that the members of the disciplinary board violated his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment by refusing to give him a copy of his letter during the disciplinary hearing and by giving insufficient reasons for disciplining him. Defendants respond that their actions satisfied the requirements of due process.

To prove a claim for violation of due process, the plaintiff must first demonstrate a protected liberty or property interest and then show that he was deprived of that interest without due process of law. Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 571, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 2706, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). In this action, the parties do not dispute that Scarpa possesses a state-created liberty interest against isolated confinement.³ At issue here, is whether the defendants deprived Scarpa of his protected liberty interest without due process of law.

In Wolff v. McDonnell, the Court held that in cases involving disciplinary proceedings, due process required prison officials to...