Wright v. Coughlin
| Decision Date | 17 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 93-CV-601S(F).,93-CV-601S(F). |
| Parties | Thomas WRIGHT, Plaintiff, v. Thomas A. COUGHLIN, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of New York |
Thomas Wright, Fallsburg, NY, pro se.
Dennis C. Vacco, Attorney General, State of New York, Kim S. Murphy, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel, Buffalo, NY, for defendants.
DECISION and ORDER
The parties executed a consent to proceed before the undersigned on March 6, 1995. By order of March 18, 1996, this court denied Plaintiff's motion to reconsider the District Court's judgment dismissing his claims as to two defendants and granting summary judgment to another. Following appeal, the Second Circuit, on January 5, 1998, vacated the decision of this court, and remanded for further proceedings. The matter is presently before the court on Defendants' motion for summary judgment, filed February 18, 1998 (Docket Item No. 47), and Plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment ("Plaintiff's Cross-Motion"), filed May 1, 1998 (Docket Item No. 57).
Plaintiff, Thomas Wright, filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 on July 19, 1993 alleging that his Fourteenth Amendment due process rights were violated by Defendants Coughlin, Selsky, Kelly, Bennedict, and Kihl in relation to disciplinary hearings conducted at the Attica Correctional Facility on May 31, 1990 by Defendant Bennedict and June 5, 1991 by Defendant Kihl.
On March 1, 1994, Defendants Selsky and Coughlin moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and Defendant Bennedict moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and (6). Thereafter, on June 2, 1994, Defendants Selsky and Coughlin filed a motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P 12(b)(6). On June 3, 1994, Defendant Kihl filed a similar motion.
On December 1, 1994, District Judge Skretny issued a Decision and Order granting Defendants Coughlin, Selsky, Bennedict, and Kihl's motions to dismiss. Judge Skretny found that Defendant Coughlin did not have any personal involvement in the matter at issue in this case, a necessary prerequisite to a finding of liability under § 1983, that the claim as to Defendant Bennedict was untimely, and that Defendants Selsky, as the Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services, and Kihl, as the disciplinary hearing officer who conducted Plaintiff's second disciplinary hearing at Attica, were entitled to absolute immunity for their actions. This matter was referred to the undersigned by Judge Skretny on December 6, 1994 (Docket Item No. 28) for a report and recommendation on all remaining dispositive motions.
Thereafter, on April 27, 1995, Plaintiff moved pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) seeking to vacate Judge Skretny's order as to Defendants Selsky and Kihl on the ground that, under recently decided Second Circuit precedent, Young v. Selsky, 41 F.3d 47 (2d Cir.1994), and Tulloch v. Coughlin, 50 F.3d 114 (2d Cir.1995), neither Defendant was entitled to absolute immunity. Defendant Kelly moved for summary judgment on July 31, 1995 (Docket Item No. 34). Plaintiff filed an affidavit in opposition to Kelly's motion on September 28, 1995 (Docket Item No. 41) ("Plaintiff's Affidavit").
Although noting that, based upon Young and Tulloch, Defendants Selsky and Kihl were entitled to qualified rather than absolute immunity, this court denied Plaintiff's motion to vacate and granted Defendant Kelly's motion for summary judgment by Decision and Order dated March 18, 1996 (Docket Item No. 42), finding Plaintiff's disciplinary confinement was not "atypical and significant," a threshold requirement to application of federal due process protections established in Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995). Wright v. Coughlin, 93-CV-601S(F) (slip op. W.D.N.Y. March 18, 1996) at 13-14.
Plaintiff appealed the denial of his motion to vacate, asserting that the court erred in finding that his disciplinary confinement was not an atypical and significant hardship, thus rendering consideration of the merits of his due process claim unnecessary. Specifically, Plaintiff contended the court failed to consider duration as a factor in determining whether his confinement constituted an atypical and significant hardship. Plaintiff further argued that the court should not have granted summary judgment as disputed evidentiary issues remained.
The Second Circuit vacated this court's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings in light of its recent holdings in Brooks v. DiFasi, 112 F.3d 46 (2d Cir.1997), and Miller v. Selsky, 111 F.3d 7 (2d Cir. 1997). Wright v. Coughlin, 132 F.3d 133, 138 (2d Cir.1998). The Court of Appeals directed that on remand the duration of Plaintiff's SHU confinement as well as any distinctions between disciplinary and administrative confinement should be considered. Wright, supra, at 137. The court also found error in the grant of summary judgment to Defendants on the basis that this court had credited only the affidavit of Defendant Kelly in concluding that the conditions of Plaintiff's confinement were not "atypical and significant," and, therefore, had failed to assess the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Id., at 138.
Following remand, Defendants moved, on February 18, 1998, for summary judgment (Docket Item No. 47) and submitted a memorandum in support of the motion (Docket Item No. 50). Plaintiff cross-moved for summary judgment on May 1, 1998 (Docket Item No. 57), together with a memorandum in support of that motion. Defendants also submitted a memorandum in further support of the motion for summary judgment on May 22, 1998 (Docket Item No. 60).
For the reasons which follow, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is GRANTED, and Plaintiff's cross-motion for summary judgment is DENIED.
On May 26, 1990, a disturbance broke out in the C-Block yard at the Attica Correctional Facility where Plaintiff was then housed. Believing that a corrections officer had murdered an inmate, other inmates staged a demonstration that turned violent. Fires were set, benches burned, and windows broken, until the disturbance was brought under control during the morning of May 27, 1990.
According to Plaintiff, he went to the C-Block yard on May 26th to jog and play chess. Knowing nothing about the demonstration about to take place, at approximately 7:00 P.M. he noticed that the other inmates in the yard had ceased all recreational activities. When the demonstration began, the corrections officers left the yard. The demonstration then began to turn violent. At approximately 9:00 P.M., corrections officers began to call some of the inmates back inside, leaving several inmates in the C-Block yard. At 7:00 A.M., on May 27, 1990, the disturbance ended after discussions with the Attica Superintendent, and the inmates went back inside the prison.
Although Plaintiff stated that he merely remained in the yard with the other inmates, playing chess and talking during the disturbance, he was charged in two separate misbehavior reports, with a penal law offense, rioting, arson, and property damage. Specifically, Plaintiff was charged with taking part in a riot and causing damage by breaking windows and burning benches. These charges were based on the personal observations of two corrections officers, one of whom also stated that Plaintiff organized other inmates in gathering the benches for burning, and the other who stated that Plaintiff, carrying a weight bar, repeatedly struck and broke at least fifty windows.
A disciplinary hearing on the misbehavior reports was held by Defendant Bennedict on May 31, 1990, following which Plaintiff was found guilty of all offenses and sentenced to 365 days in the disciplinary Special Housing Unit ("SHU"), the loss of 180 days of good time credit, restitution in the amount of $175, and the loss of telephone and commissary privileges.
On June 6, 1990, Plaintiff filed an administrative appeal of the hearing disposition with Thomas A. Coughlin, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Coughlin subsequently delegated review of Plaintiff's claimed violations to Defendant Donald Selsky, Deputy Commissioner of Special Housing and Discipline. On June 11, 1990, Plaintiff sent a letter to Defendant Walter Kelly, Superintendent of Attica Correctional Facility, claiming that he was wrongfully charged with the offenses relating to the prison disturbance, describing the alleged due process violations during the disciplinary hearing, and requesting Defendant Kelly's assistance.
Defendant Bennett's disciplinary hearing disposition was affirmed by Defendant Selsky on August 6, 1990. Plaintiff then filed an Article 78 proceeding in New York Supreme Court, Wyoming County.2 On May 20, 1991, the Hon. Mark H. Dadd, Acting Supreme Court Justice, vacated the disciplinary hearing decision, including the loss of good time credits, on the ground that the hearing officer, Defendant Bennedict, had improperly failed to investigate the contents of videotapes of the prison disturbance, and directed that a new hearing be held.
A second disciplinary hearing was subsequently held on June 5, 1991 at which Defendant Kihl presided as hearing officer. At that hearing, Kihl viewed the existing videotapes but, for security reasons, did not permit Plaintiff to also view the tapes. While one witness was called, as Plaintiff had requested, Kihl did not allow two other witnesses requested by Plaintiff to testify, believing that the testimony of the witnesses would be used solely to corroborate the testimony of the witness who had testified. At the conclusion of the hearing, Plaintiff was again found guilty of all charges and received a penalty of 168 days of disciplinary SHU, 120 days of...
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