Willis v. Ciccone, 74-1294

Citation506 F.2d 1011
Decision Date15 November 1974
Docket NumberNo. 74-1294,74-1294
PartiesLeslie D. WILLIS, Appellant, v. Dr. P. J. CICCONE, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Leslie D. Willis, pro se.

Bert C. Hurn, U.S. Atty., Kansas City, Mo., filed motion for remand of cause for further consideration.

Before GIBSON, Chief Judge, and LAY and STEPHENSON, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a denial of injunctive relief sought in a petition for habeas corpus. The petitioner Willis was a prisoner at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners at Springfield, Missouri. In his habeas petition he alleged that prison authorities had placed him in punitive isolation on the basis of a false disciplinary report and after a hearing which denied him various safeguards of procedural due process. He also charged that he was being denied access to the courts and that his freedom to associate with other prisoners was being abridged because of his race.

Pursuant to a local procedural rule then in force in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Willis' petition was processed by a magistrate who held an evidentiary hearing and entered findings of fact and conclusions of law with a recommendation that some of the requested relief be granted and that some be denied. Under the rule, the petitioner could seek a de novo review of the magistrate's findings by the district judge. Willis sought this review but the district judge adopted the findings and recommendations of the magistrate and entered judgment accordingly. Willis then filed this appeal contending that the magistrate was without authority to hold the evidentiary hearing.

The Director of the Medical Center, Dr. P. J. Ciccone, through his counsel the United States Attorney, has filed a motion is this court seeking a remand for the purpose of a new hearing before the district court in view of the holding in Wingo v. Wedding, 418 U.S. 461, 94 S.Ct. 2842, 41 L.Ed.2d 879 (1974), that magistrates lack authority to hold evidentiary hearings in habeas cases. This court has followed this remand procedure in Williams v. Ciccone, No. 74-1320, and McFadden v. Ciccone, No. 74-1245. For the reasons which follow, however, we find a remand is not necessary and affirm the denial of the writs by the district court.

This case, along with Proffitt v. Ciccone, 506 F.2d 1020, and Frazier v. Ciccone, 506 F.2d 1022, raises substantial questions regarding the scope of the writ of habeas corpus as well as the propriety of certain procedures followed by the district court in processing such petitions. In view of the increasing number of habeas corpus actions being filed, and what we perceive to be a basic misunderstanding by both federal and state prisoners of the availability of the writ for redressing prisoner grievances relating to the conditions of their confinement, these questions are important ones.

To avoid further abuse of the writ and hopefully obviate some of the unnecessary procedural time and paper work undertaken by district courts, we think it useful to briefly review both the substantive claims for which habeas relief is available and the procedural guidelines to be followed with prisoner petitions.

Habeas corpus was originally viewed by this circuit, and several others, as an inappropriate method for challenging prison conditions. See, e.g., cases cited in Cates v. Ciccone, 422 F.2d 926 (8th Cir. 1970). This restrictive view was premised primarily upon the same belief that gave rise to the more general 'hands off' doctrine, that is, that prisoner complaints relating to conditions of confinement could only be addressed to those prison authorities who had responsibility for those conditions. See, e.g., Harris v. Settle, 322 F.2d 908 (8th Cir. 1963). As the scope of federal habeas corpus expanded to include review of constitutional deficiencies in both state and federal convictions, the Supreme Court also recognized 1983 of the Civil Rights Act as a proper vehicle for state prisoners challenging conditions of confinement which were in violation of their federal constitutional rights. 1

Federal prisoners, of course, could have no remedy under 1983 because of the absence of state action. The only recourse for federal prisoners desiring to challenge unconstitutional conditions in their confinement was the extraordinary remedy of habeas corpus. The basic inequity of providing a remedy for state prisoners while denying it to federal prisoners led to a reassessment of those cases which had held that habeas relief was unavailable in such circumstances with the result that now it is generally acknowledged that habeas corpus is a proper vehicle for any prisoner, state or federal, to challenge unconstitutional actions of prison officials. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974); Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973).

Contrary to the view evidenced by many prisoner petitions, however, not every aspect of prison discipline justifies review in federal court. The Supreme Court has observed that, since habeas corpus is an extraordinary remedy, 'its use has been limited to cases of special urgency, leaving more conventional remedies for cases in which the restraints on liberty are neither severe nor immediate.' Hensley v. Municipal Court, 411 U.S. 345, 351, 93 S.Ct. 1571, 1575, 36 L.Ed.2d 294 (1973). In the context of challenges to prison conditions or the actions of prison authorities we believe this means two things: (1) that habeas corpus is limited to claims involving the deprivation of substantial rights, 2 and (2) that even where such claims are present, it is available, except in the most unusual circumstances, only after administrative procedures which provide a real possibility for relief have been exhausted. 3

Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

Administrative procedures can, where available, provide an adequate and often the most expeditious review of prisoner grievances. Federal prison administrative grievance procedures must be viewed in this light. We hold that if grievance procedures provide an adequate means for impartial review, then a federal prisoner must exhaust available administrative remedies within the correctional system prior to seeking extraordinary relief in federal court. This requirement of exhaustion for federal prisoners has been recognized by several circuits and we endorse their view. Paden v. United States, 430 F.2d 882 (5th Cir. 1970); Light v. United States, 430 F.2d 932 (5th Cir. 1970); Quick v. Thompkins, 425 F.2d 260 (5th Cir. 1970); Green v. United States, 283 F.2d 687 (3d Cir. 1960). The extraordinary nature of the writ requires this. It should not be resorted to until other more conventional remedies have failed. When proper grievance procedures exist, their utilization benefits the prisoner, the prison authorities and the courts. If such procedures are given a fair chance to succeed, not only will the prisoner receive expeditious relief when he is entitled to it, the administrative burden processing federal suits places upon prison authorities will greatly decrease as well. 4

Procedures in District Court

We turn now to a consideration of district court procedure as it relates to claims asserted by federal prisoners. We observed initially that while prisoners are entitled to a plenary evidentiary hearing when they state a claim which merits it, only certain claims merit such a hearing. Before a hearing is required, the petition must allege a harm resulting from the deprivation of some basic federal constitutional right. Furthermore, conclusory pleading is not sufficient. Facts must be stated which, if true, would justify relief. Procunier v. Atchley, 400 U.S. 446, 91 S.Ct. 485, 27 L.Ed.2d 524 (1971). Habeas petitions cannot seek de novo review of the facts involved in a disciplinary proceeding. A federal district judge or magistrate can never serve as final arbiter on factual disputes over the occurrence of rule infractions within a prison. In this case, as in the other two cases mentioned, the magistrate conducted lengthy evidentiary hearings and made extensive findings of facts on the events surrounding prison disciplinary actions. In effect, the facts presented in the disciplinary action were heard again by the magistrate. 5 Such a procedure misapprehends the scope of habeas corpus. The only issue which should concern a federal court in such instance is whether the prisoner has been aggrieved by a denial of a fundamental constitutional right. A hearing is not required if one is not necessary to a determination on that issue. Often one is not. Habeas corpus is designed to provide a prompt and efficacious remedy. Peyton v. Rowe, 391 U.S. 54, 88 S.Ct. 1549, 20 L.Ed.2d 426 (1968). It should be kept in mind that the very nature of the writ allows it to 'cut through barriers of form and procedural mazes.' Harris v. Nelson, 394 U.S. 286, 291, 89 S.Ct. 1082, 1086, 22 L.Ed.2d 281 (1969). Time-consuming procedures and pleadings should be kept to a minimum. The Supreme Court has observed:

Flexible provision is made for taking evidence by oral testimony, by deposition, or upon affidavit and written interrogatory. 28 U.S.C. 2246. Cf. 2245, 2254(e). The court shall 'summarily hear and determine the facts, and dispose of the matter as law and justice require.' 28 U.S.C. 2243. But with respect to methods for securing facts where necessary to accomplish the objective of the proceedings Congress has been largely silent. Clearly, in these circumstances, the habeas corpus jurisdiction and the duty to exercise it being present, the courts may fashion appropriate modes of procedure, by analogy to existing rules or otherwise in conformity with judicial usage.

Harris v. Nelson, supra at 299, 89 S.Ct. at 1090.

In many recurring instances other factfinding procedures available to the district...

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