Stewart v. McManus

• Decision Date: 22 January 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-1075,90-1075
• Citation: 924 F.2d 138
• Parties: Steven A. STEWART, Appellant, v. Patrick McMANUS, Secretary of Corrections for State of Kansas; Harold Farrier, Director of Iowa Department of Corrections; Crispus Nix; Paul Hedgepeth; John Emmett; Harry Grabowski; Robert Washington; James Burton; Don Lynch; Louis Galloway; Lt. Kyle Bawden; and Charles Harper, Appellees. Iowa Department of Corrections; Paul Grossheim; John Henry, Deputy Warden; and, Martha Van Baale, Director of Nursing.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 138

924 F.2d 138

Steven A. STEWART, Appellant, v. Patrick McMANUS, Secretary of Corrections for State of

Kansas; Harold Farrier, Director of Iowa Department of

Corrections; Crispus Nix; Paul Hedgepeth; John Emmett;

Harry Grabowski; Robert Washington; James Burton; Don

Lynch; Louis Galloway; Lt. Kyle Bawden; and Charles

Harper, Appellees.

Iowa Department of Corrections; Paul Grossheim; John

Henry, Deputy Warden; and, Martha Van Baale,

Director of Nursing.

No. 90-1075.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Sept. 13, 1990.

Decided Jan. 22, 1991.

Mark D. Cleve, Davenport, Iowa, for appellant.

Layne M. Lindebak, Des Moines, Iowa, for appellees.

Before JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge, HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge, and MAGNUSON, ^* District Judge.

JOHN R. GIBSON, Circuit Judge.

Steven A. Stewart appeals from a judgment entered against him in his 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 (1988) action asserting claims based on his disciplinary treatment by Iowa correctional authorities. Stewart was convicted of murder in Kansas and served part of his prison term there, but was transferred to Iowa to complete his term there pursuant to the Interstate Corrections Compact adopted by Iowa and Kansas. While in the Iowa penitentiary, Stewart was charged with a number of violations of the Rules and Regulations governing the Iowa State Penitentiary and was disciplined according to the Iowa disciplinary rules and procedures. He then brought this action claiming that the Iowa correctional authorities violated the Interstate Compact Agreement, the implementing contract, and his due process and equal protection rights by applying Iowa, rather than Kansas, disciplinary rules. He also claimed that a violation of his eighth amendment rights occurred when he was "flex-cuffed" to the bars of his cell after a prison disturbance. The district court held that Iowa disciplinary rules governed Stewart's disciplinary actions in Iowa and also rejected his due process, equal protection and eighth amendment claims. On appeal, Stewart argues that the district court erred by: (1) ruling that Stewart's constitutional rights were not violated by the application of Iowa disciplinary rules; (2) holding that the Interstate Compact Agreement did not create a federal cause of action; and (3) rejecting his eighth amendment claim. We affirm the judgment of the district court. ¹

Stewart was convicted of murder in Kansas and incarcerated there from 1976 to January 7, 1983, when he was transferred to the Iowa State Penitentiary. While in the Kansas Penitentiary, Stewart pled guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge arising from the death of a prison food service worker. At that time, he was removed from the general prison population and placed in segregation.

On January 7, 1983, Stewart was transferred to the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, Iowa. The transfer was made pursuant to the Interstate Corrections Compact adopted by Iowa and Kansas and the contract between Kansas and Iowa implementing the Compact. After two months in close management status, Stewart was transferred to the general prison population.

Thereafter, Stewart compiled a lengthy disciplinary record. In late 1983, Stewart was sentenced to thirty days disciplinary detention and one year in administrative segregation for making a knife and threatening to kill officers and inmates. On June 18, 1985, Stewart was found guilty of threatening an officer and again placed in close management status. The warden also directed that Stewart be placed on no contact visits and that he be escorted in full restraints. About one year later, Stewart was suspected of starting a fire in his cell for the purpose of creating a disturbance. As a result, Stewart was removed from his cell and deprived of access to his legal work, some clothes and personal possessions for about ten days. On December 20 1985, he was convicted of engaging in drug dealing within the penitentiary, and sentenced to fifteen days disciplinary detention and one year in administrative segregation.

On January 6, 1986, there was a "cell house disturbance" that included the taking of several hostages by inmates. After the correctional officials released the hostages, regained control of the cell house, and returned inmates to their cells, they handcuffed some of the inmates in their cells while they completed a "shakedown" of the cell house. During this time, Stewart was placed in plastic flex cuffs. Flex cuffs are a single band of plastic that is drawn tightly around the wrists. Correctional authorities used the plastic flex cuffs after running out of regular handcuffs. Stewart was found guilty of carrying a club outside the cell house during this incident and sentenced to 30 days in disciplinary detention and three years in administrative segregation.

In all of these disciplinary proceedings, Iowa correctional authorities applied the Rules, Regulations and Disciplinary Procedures of the Iowa State Penitentiary. Stewart filed this action claiming that the Interstate Corrections Compact and the implementing contract between Kansas and Iowa required that Iowa correctional officials apply Kansas disciplinary rules to his disciplinary proceedings. He claimed that the failure to do so violated his due process and equal protection rights and violated the Interstate Correctional Compact, which was transformed into federal law by congressional consent. He also contended that the correctional authorities' use of flex cuffs following the January 6, 1986, cell house disturbance violated his eighth amendment rights.

After a bench trial, the district court concluded that the Interstate Corrections Compact and implementing contract did not provide for the application of the sending state's laws to the receiving state's internal disciplinary proceedings. Stewart v. McManus, No. 86-185-A, slip op. at 6-7 (Nov. 8, 1989). The court further held that Iowa did not impose any discipline that was "qualitatively different from that authorized by the laws of Kansas," that the Iowa proceedings satisfied the requirements of procedural due process, and that the evidence did not establish that Stewart would have received less severe discipline if Kansas, rather than Iowa, rules had been applied in his disciplinary proceedings. Id. at 7-8. The court ruled that there were no equal protection or due process violations, id. at 10-11, and that the Interstate Corrections Compact and implementing contract could not be the basis for a 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 claim because it had not been transformed into federal law. Id. at 8. Finally, the district court ruled that defendants did not violate Stewart's eighth amendment rights by placing him in flex cuffs following the January 6, 1986, cell house disturbance. Stewart appealed.

I.

Stewart sets forth three bases for his 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983 claims. He argues that the application of Iowa, rather than Kansas, disciplinary rules violated his due process and equal protection rights, as well as federal rights arising under the Interstate Corrections Compact. ² We address these arguments in turn.

Stewart argues that the Interstate Corrections Compact and the implementing contract between Kansas and Iowa created a fourteenth amendment liberty interest in having Kansas' prison disciplinary rules and regulations applied to him while he is incarcerated in Iowa.

A liberty interest is created by the presence of mandatory language limiting prison officials' discretion. Olim v. Wakinekona, 461 U.S. 238, 249, 103 S.Ct. 1741, 1747, 75 L.Ed.2d 813 (1983); Hewitt v. Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 469-70, 103 S.Ct. 864, 870-71, 74 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983); Parker v. Corrothers, 750 F.2d 653, 656-57 (8th Cir.1984). Stewart contends that the Interstate Corrections Compact and implementing contract create a liberty interest by making the sending state's disciplinary rules applicable in proceedings involving a transferred inmate. He points to provisions in the Compact which, among other things, provide that a transferring prisoner remains "subject to the jurisdiction of the sending state" and is not deprived "of any legal rights which [he] would have had if confined in ... the sending state." Iowa Code Ann. Sec. 247.2 (West Supp.1990). He also cites to provisions in the Compact that allow the sending state to conduct hearings in the receiving state, provide for the application of the sending state's "governing law," and require that officials in the receiving state "act solely as agents of the sending state." Id. Stewart also refers to sections 2 and 16 of the implementing contract entered into by Kansas and Iowa. Section 2 states: "Except where expressly otherwise provided, the laws and administrative regulations and rules of the sending state shall govern in any matter relating to an inmate confined pursuant to this contract and the Interstate Corrections Compact." Section 16 provides: "Nothing contained herein shall be construed to authorize or permit the imposition of a type of discipline prohibited by the laws of the sending state."

We do not read the Interstate Corrections Compact or the implementing contract to require the application of Kansas disciplinary rules and regulations to a transferred prisoner. The Compact provides that all transferred prisoners "shall be treated in a reasonable and humane manner and shall be treated equally with such similar inmates of the receiving state as may be confined in the same institution." Iowa Code Ann. Sec. 247.2 (emphasis added). The contract also provides that the receiving state shall "supervise" the transferred inmates, "maintain proper discipline and control," and "make certain that they receive no special privileges." The sentence preceding section 16 of the contract cited above also provides guidance on disciplining transferred inmates: "The receiving state, as agent for the sending state, shall have physical control over and power to exercise disciplinary authority over all inmates...