Sisk v. CSO Branch, 91-15250

• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
• Writing for the Court: LEAVY
• Citation: 974 F.2d 116
• Parties: Richard SISK; James Piatt, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CSO BRANCH; R. Austin; Lt. Hilton, Defendants-Appellees.
• Docket Number: No. 91-15250,91-15250
• Decision Date: 10 December 1991

Page 116

974 F.2d 116 Richard SISK; James Piatt, Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
CSO BRANCH; R. Austin; Lt. Hilton, Defendants-Appellees. No. 91-15250. United States Court of Appeals,
Ninth Circuit. Submitted Dec. 10, 1991. ^*
Decided Sept. 2, 1992.

Page 117

Richard Sisk and James Piatt, pro. per., Florence, Ariz., for the plaintiffs-appellants.

Bruce L. Skolnik, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tucson, Ariz., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

Before: NORRIS, BEEZER, and LEAVY, Circuit Judges.

LEAVY, Circuit Judge:

BACKGROUND

Richard Sisk and James Piatt, Arizona state prisoners each serving sentences of twenty-five years to life, appeal pro se the district court's order staying their 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action pending exhaustion of state remedies. Following a prison disciplinary hearing in which they were found guilty of drug use, Sisk and Piatt filed a section 1983 claim alleging that the actions of the State defendants throughout the disciplinary process violated due process and equal protection. Sisk and Piatt sought transfer back from high security to medium security, compensatory and punitive damages for being transferred to high security, and restoration of forfeited good time credits. The district court construed Sisk's and Piatt's complaint as a habeas petition and stayed the action pending exhaustion of state remedies. We have jurisdiction to review an order staying a civil rights action under the collateral order exception to the final judgment rule set forth in Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-47, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1225-26, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). See Marchetti v. Bitterolf, 968 F.2d 963, 964-65 (9th Cir.1992). We reverse.

DISCUSSION

Generally, when a state prisoner challenges the fact or duration of his confinement and seeks a determination that he is entitled to immediate release from imprisonment, his sole federal remedy is a writ of habeas corpus. Preiser v. Rodriquez, 411 U.S. 475, 500, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 1841, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973); Young v. Kenny, 907 F.2d 874, 876 (9th Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1090, 112 L.Ed.2d 1194 (1991). Habeas corpus, however, is not the appropriate or even available remedy for damages claims. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 554, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 2973, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). Rather, section 1983 authorizes the recovery of money damages for constitutional violations and generally does not require exhaustion of state remedies. Patsy v. Board of Regents, 457 U.S. 496, 507, 102 S.Ct. 2557, 2563, 73 L.Ed.2d 172 (1982).

A prisoner may bring a section 1983 action to challenge disciplinary procedures having only a "speculative or incidental effect" on the length of his sentence. Clutchette v. Procunier, 497 F.2d 809, 812-14 (9th Cir.1974), modified, 510 F.2d 613 (9th Cir.1975), rev'd on different grounds sub nom., Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976). In Clutchette, there was no direct relationship between the challenged proceedings and the prisoners' release dates. Id. at 813. The court reasoned that because it was unlikely that a prisoner could aver that he would have been entitled to immediate release or release on a date certain had he not been subjected to the...