Petition for Writ of Certiorari — Rowe v. DeBruyn
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% — ‘wg 5 U.S,
94 924
i 9 AUG ~ 1 1994
IN THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE UNITED STATES
October Term 1994
JOHN S. ROWE,
Petitioner,
ws
H. CHRISTIAN DEBRUYN, ET AL.,
Respondents.
PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI
TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
August 1, 1994 Hamid R. Kashani
Suite 600
445 N. Pennsylvania Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317/ 632-1000
Counsel of Record
Richard A. Waples
Suite 911
445 N. Pennsylvania Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317/ 635-4059
Attorneys for Petitioner
QUESTION PRESENTED
Whether a prisoner being attacked and raped has
a fundamental right, protected by the due process
clause of the fourteenth amendment, to defend
himself?
i
LIST OF PARTIES
1. Plaintiff-Petitioner JOHN S. ROWE;
2. Defendant-Respondent James E. Aiken, individually;
3. Defendant-Respondent H. CHRISTIAN DEBRUYN, in his
official capacity as Commissioner of the Indiana
Department of Correction [hereinafter DOC];'
4. Defendant-Respondent JACK R. DUCKWORTH, individually
and in his official capacity as Superintendent, Indiana State
Reformatory [ISR];
5. Defendant-Respondent MICHAEL J. WATSEN, individually
and in his official capacity as Correctional Lieutenant and
the Chair of the Conduct Adjustment Board, ISR;
6. Defendant-Respondent LACY MORRIS, individually and in
his official capacity as Correctional Officer and Member of
the Conduct Adjustment Board, ISR; and
7. Defendant-Respondent RICK L. ROBINSON, Individually and
in his official capacity as an employee and member of the
Conduct Adjustment Board, ISR.
Defendants-Respondents are hereinafter collectively referred
to as Prison Officers.
‘Rowe sued Commissioner Aiken individually and in his official
Capacity. Because Commissioner Aiken was replaced by Commissioner
DeBruyn, the Court of Appeals, sua sponte, substituted DeBruyn for Aiken.
An automatic substitution is effective only with respect to Commissioner
Aiken’s official capacity. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25(d)(1).
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Ts y's bo 6 eed. 0 806 ee 0. #08 1
SEER er eee ee 1
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION INVOLVED ... 1
SiAIEMEN!T OF THE CASE .............. 2
REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT ....... +
This petition presents the important question
whether a prisoner being attacked and raped
has a fundamental right, protected by the
due process clause of the fourteenth amendment,
Oe ee aa ha gs pe ox 4
A. The right to self-defense is fundamental
and protected by the due process clause
of the fourteenth amendment. ........ 6
B. The right to self-defense extends to
prisoners being attacked and raped. .... 11
I a ne a 15
I ela Legs oe ks 5 «e's s oem ek a-i
ill
AUTHORITIES CITED
Cases:
Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500 (1964) .. 6
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986) ..... 3
Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. 327 (1986) ........ 6
Farmer v. Brennan, _ U.S. ___,
Se es Se ee sa sk 11
Gibbs v. Franklin, 18 F.3d 521 (7th Cir. 1994) ..... 11
Griffin v. Martin, 785 F.2d 1172 (4th Cir. 1986),
aff'd by an equally divided court and op.
withdrawn, 795 F.2d 22 (1986) (en banc),
cert. denied, 480 U.S. 919 (1987) ........... 9
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965) ..... 6
Isaac v. Engle,
646 F.2d 1129 (6th Cir. 1980) (en banc),
WU Se Se Pt RE cs hi ete 10
Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) .......... 6
Martin v. Ohio, 480 U.S. 228 (1987) ........... 7
Pell v. Procunier, 417 U S. 817 (1974) .......... 12
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925) .... 6
Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944) ..... 6
Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396 (1974) .... 12, 13
Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952) ........ 6
Be See, ee wees BED ME oe i i ee ss 6
Rowe v. DeBruyn, 17 F.3d 1047 (7th Cir. 1994) . passim
Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535 (1942) ....... 6
Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480 (1980) ............ 4
White v. Arn, 788 F.2d 338 (6th Cir. 1986),
cert. denied, 480 U.S. 917 (1987) ........... 10
Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974) ........ 5
1V
Constitutions, Statutes:
Se ee eo 1
ee ne ERS 1
Mo ay ov ss ode oe oe ee l
SS he a kb be ck ere ee |
eT on ee l
Ge we hr ads ee cet et 1
Su Se eee 9
Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2901.05(A) ............. 9
Sen SE rn ee ee ee 9
me SO I I bs ek ke eck a st passim
Rules:
eee ee Pe es Se en Sk ES PO l
Pas See es 6 Ok PS. Oe li
Miscellaneous:
2 H. Broom, Commentaries on the Laws of England
with Notes by William Wait (1875) .......... 11
2 Sharswood Blackstone’s Commentaries
Se as 7
3 Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of
os EG 6
A. Ashworth, Self-Defence and the Right to Life,
Pe as Ek ok ec es be ene 6, 8
D. Bowett, Self-Defence in Int’l Law (1958) ....... 9
ee ee 9
LaFave, Criminal Law (2d ed. 1986) ........... 13
Vv
| * .
M. Gagarin, Drakon and Early Athenian Homicide Law
ECR ap de a lle Sa a os oak. pare as eet 7
Model Penal Code § 3.04 (1962) .............. 9
R. Lillich, /nternational Human Rights,
Problems of Law, Policy, and Prac.
ES So ba eS we tae boece yy eee 8
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
8 a eet FT ee eee ere 8
vi
OPINION BELOW
The opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the
Seventh Circuit is reported as Rowe v. DeBruyn, 17 F.3d
1047 (7th Cir. 1994). It is reprinted in the Appendix hereto,
p. la.
JURISDICTION
The judgment and opinion of the court of appeals was
entered on March 2, 1994, with one judge dissenting. On
March 16, 1994, Rowe filed a petition for rehearing with a
suggestion for rehearing en banc which was denied on May
3, 1994, with four (4) judges voting to grant an en banc
hearing. An amended order was entered on May 5, 1994.
This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1254(1).
The district court entered its judgment on December 18,
1992. Rowe filed his notice of appeal on January 15, 1993,
within the time limits prescribed by Fed. R. App. P. 4(a).
The court of appeals had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §
1291.
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 & 1343, the district court
had jurisdiction to hear Rowe’s constitutional claims brought
under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. § 2201.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION INVOLVED
The following constitutional provision is relevant to the
determination of this case: "No State shall make or enforce
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws." U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
In July 1991, Petitioner John S. Rowe was incarcerated
in an Indiana state prison. About midnight on July 18,
1991, after the officers had made their last round, Evans, a
prisoner in the next cell, sent Rowe a note demanding Rowe
to go to his cell in the morning and submit to sex. Affidavit
of Rowe to the CAB (Jul. 31, 1991) (AAB-17 to -19).?
[Rowe’s Affidavit]. Evans threatened Rowe with death if he
did not comply. See Evans’ Note (AAB-16) ("Someone will
get hurt, perhaps even die"). Rowe did not comply.’
Early in the morning, prior to the guards rounds, Evans
forcibly entered Rowe’s cell and violently assaulted and
attempted to rape him. Rowe repeatedly screamed for help,
but no officer responded. Rowe’s Affidavit (AAB-17 to -
19).
Iseenag the assault, Evans repeatedly grabbed, pushed,
and punched Rowe.* While defending himself from Evans’
References are to the Appendix in the Appellant's Brief (AAB) filed
in the Court of Appeals.
3Rowe had previously complained to prison authorities about Evans’
sexual aggression. Rowe’s Affidavit (AAB-17 to -19). Seealso Statement
of Counsellor Shelton to the Conduct Adjustment Board (CAB) (AAB-1).
*Rowe received severa! injuries from the attack and was seen by
medical staff seven (7) times from July 19 to August 22, 1991. See
Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (attachments-- Rowe’s medical
records).
violent blows and attempted rape, Rowe grabbed a cold hot-
pot and swung it at Evans. Rowe was unable to fend off
Evans. Eventually, another prisoner, Perez, heard Rowe’s
pleas for help and came to his rescue. With Perez’ help,
Rowe was able to force Evans from his cell. Rowe’s
Affidavit (AAB-17 to -19).
Rowe was charged with committing battery upon Evans.
Conduct Report (AAB-20). A prison conduct adjustment
board (CAB) held a hearing and found Evans was the
"aggressor," Watson’s Depo. at 36, and Rowe had acted in
self-defense. Affidavit of Watson ¢ 9, at 2 (attached to
Prison Officers’ summary judgment motion). But, the
DOC’s policy prevented the CAB from acquitting Rowe.
"[Rowe] did have a human right to protect himself, but the
Department of Correction doesn’t have an allowance for
that." Watson’s Depo. at 38. Thus, the CAB did not allow
Rowe to raise the defense of self-defense and specifically
heid "[t]here is no self-defense policy for offenders in
I.D.0.C. [Indiana Department of Correction]."_ Discipiinary
Hearing Report (AAB-21). The CAB convicted Rowe of
battery and sentenced him to one (1) year of disciplinary
segregation. In imposing its sentence, the CAB viewed the
fact of Rowe’s self-defense as a mitigating factor and
suspended the sentence. /d.°
“Prison Officers did not raise, in the district court, the question of
whether Rowe’s sentence deprived him of a liberty interest. Prison Officers’
Petition for Rehearing at 4 ("[nJeither party raised this issue in the district
court"). Nor did Rowe. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323
(1986) (the "movant always bears the initial burden of informing the district
court of the basis for its motion). The district court sua sponte held a
suspended sentence cannot implicate a liberty interest. The court of appeals
disagreed. "In our view, Rowe’s punishment, although suspended,
constitutes ‘consequences visited on the prisoner that are qualitatively
Rowe sued. Prison Officers moved for summary
judgment claiming security concerns justified their policy of
denying prisoners the defense of self-defense in CAB
proceedings. The district court agreed. A panel of the court
of appeals affirmed, with JUDGE RIPPLE dissenting.
Rowe’s petition for rehearing with suggestion for
rehearing en banc was denied, with JUDGES CUDAHY,
FLAUM, RIPPLE, AND ROVNER voting to grant rehearing en
banc.
REASONS FOR GRANTING THE WRIT
This petition presents the important question
whether a prisoner being attacked and raped
has a fundamental right, protected by the
due process clause of the fourteenth amendment,
to defend himself.
This case presents an important constitutional issue which
has not yet been decided by this Court, i.e. "whether the
state can require someone to accept grievous bodily injury or
even the possibility of death as the price for not incurring
Criminal or quasi-criminal liability." Rowe, 17 F.3d 1054
(Ripple, J., dissenting). This Court should accept this case
and, for the first time, hold that a human being has a
fundamental right to self-defense protected by the due
process clause of the fourteenth amendment.
different from the punishment characteristically suffered by a person
convicted of crime.’" Rowe, 17 F.3d at 1053 (quoting Vitek v. Jones, 445
U.S. 480, 493 (1980)). See also Plaintiff's Contentions and Statement of
Special Damages q 5, at 3 (AAB-14) (Rowe was later confined to a
restrictive, disciplinary unit because a subsequent sentence imposed upon him
was enhanced due to this conviction).
Under the Seventh Circuit’s decision,° a prisoner facing
a violent attack or rape must either submit to it or be
punished by prison authorities. This rule is neither fair nor
just, It makes the state an accomplice of the aggressor. The
court of appeals’ rejection of the right of self-defense has
disastrous consequences in prison:
[T]he court [of appeals] today holds that the
Constitution of the United States permits a
State to leave, under all circumstances, an
incarcerated person without any lawful
recourse against even the most inhuman and
vile attack on that person’s life or bodily
integrity. It sanctions the decision of the state
government of Indiana to require that any
person incarcerated under its authority
submit, no matter what the circumstances, to
any threat to life or bodily integrity without
any recourse to self-defense of any kind.
This holding renders the phrases of Wolff [v.
McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 555 (1974)]
meaningless poctry.
Rowe, 17 F.3d 1054 (Ripple, J., dissenting).
°The Seventh Circuit held the right to self-defense is not a fundamental
right protected by the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment.
Rowe, 17 F.3d at 1052. It further held "[e]ven if Rowe did have a
constitutional right of self-defense, the IDOC’s policy to deny a prisoner the
right to raise it as a complete defense is reasonably related to legitimate
penological interests." /d. at 1053.
A. The right to self-defense is fundamental and
protected by the due process clause of the
fourteenth amendment.
The right to self-defense is a fundamental right which
should be protected by the constitution. "Bill of Rights
presumes the existence of a substantial body of rights not
specifically enumerated but easily perceived in the broad
concept of liberty and so numerous and so obvious as to
preclude listing them." 3 Story, Commentaries on the
Constitution of the United States 715-716 (1833). See also
~ Daniels v. Williams, 47° U.S. 327, 337-38 (1986) (Stevens,
J., concurring) ("the Due Process Clause contains a
substantive component that bars certain arbitrary, wrongful
government actions"). Thus, this Court has recognized a
host of rights not enumerated in the constitution when those
rights are deemed "fundamental" or "implicit in the concept
of ordered liberty." Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 152
(1973).’
The right to self-defense is both fundamental and implicit
in the concept of ordered liberty. "Indeed, on practical
grounds a liberty to use force in self-defense is essential if
members of society are not to be put at the mercy of the
strong and unscrupulous." A. Ashworth, Self-Defence and
See Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (abortion); Loving v. Virginia, 388
U.S. 1 (1967) (marriage); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
(contraception); Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
(overseas travel); Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952) (protection
against bodily intrusions); Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
(family relationships); Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535 (1942)
(procreation); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925) (upbringing
and education of children).
the Right to Life, 34 Camb. L.J. 282, 283 (1975).
[hereinafter cited as Self-Defence and the Right to Life}.
The right to self-defense is the right to survive. It
predates written law and is essential to self-preservation.
"There is no dispute that self-defense historically is one of
the primary justifications for otherwise unlawful conduct."
Martin v. Ohio, 480 U.S. 228, 243 (1987) (Powell, J.,
dissenting) (citations omitted).
Perhaps, the earliest written recognition of the right of
self-defense is found in "Drakon’s Law on Homicide,"
which was originally drafted by the "lawgiver" Drakon, in
621-20 B.C., and was later enacted by Athenians in 409-08
B.C. M. Gagarin, Drakon and Early Athenian Homicide
Law 1 (1981). Drakon’s law recognized the defense of self-
defense and provided that "a plea of self-defense would be
entered in a trial for intentional homicide at the Aeropagos
(in the fourth century, at least). The defendant could
probably be acquitted if he could show that the victim did
indeed start the fight and that his own retaliation was a
reasonable and necessary defensive action." Jd. at 62.
The right of self-defense has always been recognized
under the English common law:
In the next place, such homicide as is
committed for the prevention of any forcible
and atrocious crime is justifiable by the law of
nature; and also by the law of England, as it
stood so early as the time of Bracton, and as
it is since declared in statute 24 Hen. VIII. c.
5. If any person attempts a robbery or
murder of another, or attempts to break open
a house, in the night-time (which extends also
to an attempt to burn it,) and shall be killed in
such an attempt, the slayer shall be acquitted
and discharged.
2 Sharswood Blackstone’s Commentaries 180 (Am. ed.
1872).
Of particular relevance to this case is Blackstone’s
observation that "[t]he Roman law also justifie[d] homicide
when committed in defence of the chastity either of one’s
self or relations". Jd. "For one uniform principle that runs
through our own and all other laws seems to be this,-- that
where a crime, in itself capital, is endeavoured to be
committed by force, it is lawful to repel that force by the
death of the party attempting." Id. 180-81 (emphasis
added).
The right to self-defense is the right to life. "If a legal
system is to uphold the right to life, there must be a liberty
to use force for the purpose of self-defense." Self-Defence
and the Right to Life, 34 Camb. L.J. at 283. The right to
life and security of person has also been recognized by
international law. "Everyone has the right to life, liberty
and security of person." The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights art. 3 (1948). Further, international law
recognizes "[t]he right of the state to intervene by the use of
or threat of force for the protection of its nationals suffering
injuries within the territory of another state is generally
admitted, both in the writings of jurists and in the practice
of states." R. Lillich, International Human Rights, Problems
of Law, Policy, and Prac. 617 (2d ed. 1991) (quoting D.
Bowett, Self-Defence in Int’l Law 87-105 (1958)).®
Today, self-defense is widely recognized by the states.
See e.g., Ind. Code Ann. § 35-41-3-2; Ohio Rev. Code Ann.
§ 2901.05(A); S.C. Code Ann. §16-23-410. See also
Model Penal Code § 3.04 (1962) ("the use of force upon or
toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes
that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of
protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such
other person on the present occasion").
The Seventh Circuit is the only circuit which has
squarely reached the issue and decided that there is no
fundamental right to self-defense. Rowe, 17 F.3d at 1052.
A number of circuits have addressed the issue in either dicta
or opinions subsequently withdrawn on other grounds.
These cases generally deal with the allocation of burden of
proof on the defense of self-defense. In Griffin v. Martin,
785 F.2d 1172 (4th Cir. 1986), aff’d by an equally divided
court and op. withdrawn, 795 F.2d 22 (1986) (en banc),
cert. denied, 480 U.S. 919 (1987), a panel of the Fourth
Circuit observed:
It is difficult to the point of impossibility to
imagine a right in any state to abolish self
defense altogether, thereby leaving one a
*The right of self-defense or defense of others has been used on the
international scene to justify deploying troops and staging wars to protect
one’s self or others as in the case of Operations Desert Shield and Desert
Storm. It has also been engraved into our culture and upbringing. See
Grimm, Hansel and Gretel (Gretel pushed the wicked witch into the oven to
save her brother and herself).
Hobson’s choice of almost certain death
through violent attack now or statutorily
mandated death through trial and conviction
of murder later.
Id. at 1187 n.37. In Isaac v. Engle, 646 F.2d 1129 (6th
Cir. 1980) (en banc), rev’d, 456 U.S. 107 (1982), Judge
Merritt observed "the Constitution prohibits a state from
eliminating the justification of self-defense from its criminal
law." Jd. at 1140 (Merritt, J., dissenting on other grounds).
In White v. Arn, 788 F.2d 338 (6th Cir. 1986), cert. denied,
480 U.S. 917 (1987), the court stated "its holding does not
reject the notion that a defendant has a limited right to act in
self-defense under certain circumstances," id. at 347-48
n.15, but declined to adopt the notion that there is a
"constitutional right of self-defense, founded in the Eighth,
Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, which an accused
cannot be required to prove." Id. at 347.
After ail, the right to self-defense is the right to exist.
Without it, all other fundamental rights recognized under the
constitution would be illusory.
The future process of law may be by no
means an adequate remedy for an injury
accompanied with force; and it is impossible
to say, to what wanton lengths of rapine or
cruelty an outrage of this sort might be
carried, unless it were permitted a man
immediately to oppose one violence with
another. Self-defence, therefore, as it is justly
called the primary law of nature, so is not,
10
er ee ee en een te Seater
neither can it be in fact, taken away by the
law of society.
2 H. Broom, Commentaries on the Laws of England with
Notes by William Wait 3 (1875) (emphasis added).
B. The right to self-defense extends to prisoners being
attacked and raped.
The combination of the Seventh Circuit’s decisions in this
case and in Gibbs v. Franklin, 18 F.3d 521 (7th Cir. 1994)
(petition for certiorari filed on June 16, 1994, by the
undersigned counsel) is devastating in terms of prisoner
safety and human rights. In Gibbs, the Seventh Circuit held
a prison guard is not constitutionally required to protect a
victim-prisoner from an attacker unless the harm to the
prisoner is "readily preventable." Jd. at 524. Having
effectively stripped prisoners of the right to be protected by
the guards in Gibbs, in Rowe the Seventh Circuit strips them
of the right to protect themselves. Thus, even though,
"[p]risons are necessarily dangerous places," Farmer v.
Brennan, _US. __, __, 114S. Ct. 1970, 1990 (1994)
(Thomas, J., concurring in judgment), the Seventh Circuit
has left weak and vulnerable inmates with practically no
protection against violence.
Prisons are dangerous places and security inside is often
illusory. In this case, Rowe repeatedly yelled for help but
no guard came to his aid. Yet, the Seventh Circuit would
deny Rowe and other prisoners the right to protect
themselves. In the name of judicial restraint, the lower
courts have deferred completely to the Prison Officers’ bald
assertion that the availability of the defense of self-defense
1]
creates a security problem and prisoner-to-prisoner violence.
Prison Officers’ assertion is not supported by fact or logic.
Life inside today’s prison is nasty, brutish, and, all too
often, short. As Judge Ripple observed, "to forbid all
resistance to all threats to life and bodily integrity is not to
ensure a lack of violence, as the majority suggests, but to
leave the weak and the vulnerable the easy prey of the strong
and the vicious." Rowe, 17 F.3d at 1055 (Ripple, J.,
dissenting).°
Federal courts must not “abdicate [their] constitutional
responsibility to delineate and protect fundamental liberties."
Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 827 (1974). And, "a
policy of judicial restraint cannot encompass any failure to
take cognizance of valid constitutional claims whether arising
in federal or state institution." Procunier v. Martinez, 416
U.S. 396, 405 (1974). Deference to prison authorities’
purported security concerns cannot be blind:
My brothers make the further point, however,
that the recognition of self-defense in the
prison environment poses special problems for
the security of the institution and that these
considerations justify the abrogation of the
defense in the prison setting, even if such a
defense must be recognized in other contexts.
We have, no doubt, a special obligation to be
sensitive to the legitimate requirements of
prison security. This obligation brings with
"Imagine the DOC’s policy of no self-defense actually being followed.
Would aggressive and vicious prisoners be less deterred from attacking other
prisoners? To state the question is to answer it.
12
it an obligation of deference to the informed
judgment of prison authorities with respect to
matters of prison administration, especially
those issues that implicate matters of security.
Yet, the Supreme Court has made it
abundantly clear that mere invocation of
"security" or "expertise" does not permit a
Judge of the Third Article to walk away from
the issue.
Rowe, 17 F.3d 1055 (Ripple, J., dissenting) (citing Martinez,
416 U.S. at 405).
As Respondent Watson admitted, Rowe "did have a
human right to protect himself. but the Department of
Correction doesn’t have an allowance for that, Watson’s
Depo. at 38 (AAB-33), purportedly in the name of "security
concerns." Rowe, 17 F.3d at 1053.'° No governmental
purpose which allows an innocent person, albeit a prisoner,
to be convicted and punished in the name of security can
ever be legitimate. Never before has this Court implied that
a state may require individuals to passively submit to
forcible rape and even death to advance its security
concerns.
True, Prison Officers took the fact of Rowe’s self-defense into
consideration and mitigated his punishment. Nonetheless, Rowe was
convicted and punished for defending himself. See Watson’s Depo. at 42
("[iJn the event of a fight where one offender is clearly acting in self-defense,
he is still found guilty of it"). This is not just. "It is only just that one who
is unlawfully attacked by another, and who has no opportunity to resort to
the law for his defense, should be able to take reasonable steps to defend
himself from physical harm.” LaFave, Criminal Law 454 (2d ed. 1986).
13
It is indeed a _ novel proposition of
constitutional law to hold that a state, having
deprived a person of liberty according to law,
can further punish that individual for
attempting to stay alive, even when the state
itself is not ready, willing, or capable of
assuming that responsibility by substituting its
own strong arm for that of the prisoner-
victim.
Rowe, 17 F.3d 1055-56 (Ripple, J., dissenting).
Lack of protection by prison authorities is "a situation
that, the cases of this court [the Seventh Circuit] make clear,
occurs with some frequency." Rowe, 17 F.3d at 1055
(Ripple, J., dissenting). | Because of the exceptional
importance of the issue presented, and its impact on the lives
of prisoners and the conduct of prison administration, this
Court should grant certiorari and, for the first time, hold that
the right to self-defense is fundamental and extends to
prisoners facing serious injury or death.
14
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Petitioner John S. Rowe
respectfully prays that a writ of certiorari issue to review the
judgment and opinion of the United States Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit.
Respectfully submitted,
August 1, 1994 Hamid R. Kashani
Suite 600
445 N. Pennsylvania Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317/ 632-1000
Counsel of Record
Richard A. Waples
Suite 911
445 N. Pennsylvania Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317/ 635-4059
Attorneys for Petitioner
15
APPENDIX
The Court of Appeals’ Opinion in
Rowe v. DeBruyn, 17 F.3d 1047
ee A EA AS ated OS ee ee a-1
The Court of Appeals’ Judgment ............ a-18
The Court of Appeals’ Order on Petitions for
Rehearing with Suggestion for Rehearing
En Banc and for Rehearing ............. a-19
The Court of Appeals’ Amended Order on
Petitions for Rehearing with Suggestion
for Rehearing En Banc and for Rehearing .... a-21
Sie Dieirect Comets amemiemt =... a-23
The District Court’s Entry of Findings of
Fact and Conclusions of Law on Motion
for Summary Judgment and Order
Directing Entry of Judgment ............ a-24
a-i
(REPRODUCED, REPORTED AT 17 F.3D 1047)
In the
United States Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit
No. 93-1141
JOHN S. ROWE,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
V.
H. CHRISTIAN DEBRUYN,_” Individually and in his official capacity as
Commissioner, Indiana Department of Corrections, JACK R.
DUCKWORTH, Individually and in his official capacity as
Superintendent, Indiana State Reformatory, MICHAEL J. WATSEN,
Individually and in his official capacity as Correctional Lieutenant and
the Chair of the Conduct Adjustment Board, Indiana State
Reformatory, LACY MorRIS, Individually and in his official capacity
as Correctional Officer and Member of the Conduct Adjustment
Board, Indiana State Reformatory, and RICK L. ROBINSON,
Individually and in his official capacity as an employee and member
of the Conduct Adjustment Board, Indiana State Reformatory,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division.
No. 91 C 1723 - John D. Tinder, Judge.
ARGUED OCTOBER 26, 1993 -- DECIDED MARCH 2, 1994
"H. Christian DeBruyn is substituted for his predecessor, James E. Aiken,
as Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction pursuant to
Fed.R.App.P. 43.
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Before ESCHBACH, RIPPLE, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
>at 2>KANNE, Circuit Judge. When this case arose, John
Rowe was a prisoner at the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton. On
July 29, 1991, prison officers charged Rowe with hitting another
inmate, Michael Evans, on the head with a commissary issued
"hot pot." Rowe was brought before a Conduct Adjustment Board
("CAB"), consisting of appellees Michael Watsen, Lacy Morris,
and Rick Robinson. The CAB found that Rowe had violated
prison rules by committing battery, but also found mitigating
circumstances because Rowe acted in self-defense. The CAB
therefore ordered Rowe to serve one year in disciplinary
segregation, but then suspended the penalty of segregation.
Rowe’s predicament began early in July 1991, when the
Reformatory transferred Michael Evans to a cell adjacent to
Rowe’s cell. Rowe complained to prison staff about Evans’ new
cell assignment, apparently because he felt that Evans’ proximity
might cause trouble. Rowe’s fears were soon substantiated. On
July 18, Evans wrote Rowe a note demanding that Rowe go to
Evans’ cell the next morning and engage in sexual activities with
him. In the note, Evans accused Rowe of sexually enticing him
and threatened that if Rowe did not meet Evans’ aroused
expectations, "someone will get hurt and perhaps even die."
The next morning during "breakfast feed," Evans entered
Rowe’s cell. Rowe claims that Evans physically attacked him and
attempted to rape him. Rowe yelled out for help, and in an
alleged attempt to repel Evans, struck him repeatedly with the
unheated hot pot. Another prisoner, Richard Perez, hearing
shouts from Rowe’s cell, ran in to break up the fight. He found
the two men struggling. Perez pulled Evans from Rowe and then
helped Rowe push Evans out of the cell. All three men were
eventually disciplined.
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Before the CAB, Rowe contended that he did not commit
battery in violation of prison rules, on the ground that he acted in
self-defense. The CAB found that Rowe had violated prison rules
"regardless of [his] self-defense plea," » at 3»reasoning that the
Indiana Department of Corrections ("IDOC") does not recognize
self-defense as a complete defense in a prison disciplinary
proceeding. The CAB did acknowledge, however, that
self-defense can be a mitigating factor, and it found that the
circumstances surrounding the Evans incident mitigated Rowe’s
penalty of segregation.
Rowe sued various prison officials pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §
1983, claiming that the IDOC’s policy of denying prisoners the
right to raise self-defense as a complete defense in disciplinary
hearings deprived him of due process of law under the federal
Constitution.' The district court granted the prison officers’
motion for summary judgment, holding that because Rowe’s
penalty of segregation was suspended, the adverse disciplinary
ruling against Rowe implicated no protected liberty interest under
the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court alternatively held
that even if the defendants deprived Rowe of a protected liberty
interest, the procedures attendant upon the deprivation were
reasonably related to "an essential penological objective" and thus
were constitutionally sufficient.
Discussion
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits a state from "depriv[ing]
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law
" We begin by noting several principles that govern our
review of prisoners’ constitutional claims. A prisoner is "not
‘In addition to his due process claim, Rowe also alleged in his complaint that
the Department of Correction’s policy violated his Eighth Amendment rights;
however, Rowe does not raise this issue on appeal.
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wholly stripped of constitutional protections when he is imprisoned
for crime," Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 554, 94 S.Ct.
2963, 2975 (1974), and, specifically, he does retain some due
process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. See, e.g., id.
"There is no iron curtain drawn between the Constitution and the
prisons of this country." /d. Imprisonment, >» at 4»however,
necessarily entails that an inmate lose many of the rights ordinary
citizens enjoy. /d.; Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 525, 104
S.Ct. 3194, 3199 (1984). Furthermore, prisons must be able to
curtail a prisoner’s constitutional rights not only to further
correctional goals, such as retribution or deterrence, but also to
serve institutional objectives, the most basic of which is the
internal security of the prisons themselves. See Pell v. Procunier,
417 U.S. 817, 823-24, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 2804 (1974).
We base our review of prison discretion upon the recognition
that a prisoner’s liberty interests are significantly restricted by the
fact of his incarceration, and that prison officials must have broad
discretion to dictate policies that promote order and safety for
inmates and correctional staff. "Running a prison is an
inordinately difficult undertaking that requires expertise . . .
peculiarly within the province of the legislative and executive
branches of government. . . . [S]eparation of powers concerns
counsel a policy of judicial restraint. Where a state penal system
is involved, federal courts have . . . additional reason to accord
deference to the appropriate prison authorities." Turner v. Safley,
482 U.S. 78, 85-86, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 2259 (1987).
With these principles in mind, we consider whether prison
officials impermissibly infringed Rowe’s Fourteenth Amendment
rights when they denied him the right to assert self-defense as a
Se nese
complete defense to culpability ina CAB disciplinary proceeding.”
Although the district court decided Rowe’s claim as if it were a
procedural due process claim,’ »at 5»we understand Rowe’s
constitutional challenge to fall under the rubric of substantive due
process.
For clarity, we should identify the kinds of claims that may
arise when, as Rowe does in this case, an inmate simply alleges
that a prison policy "deprives him of his due process rights under
the Fourteenth Amendment." In a previous prisoners’ rights case,
we noted that "the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment
is the source of three separate constitutional protections that may
serve as the basis of a section 1983 claim against the state and its
agents and employees." Colon v. Schneider, 899 F.2d 660, 666
(7th Cir. 1990).
First, the Clause incorporates specific protections defined in
the Bill of Rights . . . . Second, the Due Process Clause
contains a substantive component that bars certain arbitrary,
*Given our holding, we need not and hence do not reach Rowe’s arguments
regarding whether the CAB found that Rowe used excessive force, and whether
the prison officials were qualifiedly immune from suit.
*The district court’s findings of fact contained the "related to legitimate
penological interests" test associated with substantive due process and Bill of
Rights claims, see e.g., Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254 (1987)
(fundamental right to marry); Hadi v. Horn, 830 F.2d 779 (7th Cir.1987) (First
Amendment free exercise); however, the court explicitly rests its holding on
procedural due process grounds, and cites only procedural due process cases,
Casteneda v. Henman, 914 F.2d 981 (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct.
| 1085 (1991), Gaston v. Taylor, 946 F.2d 340 (4th Cir.1991) (en banc), Kentucky
4 Dept. of Corrections v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454, 109 S.Ct. 1904 (1989), and
Pardo v. Hosier, 946 F.2d 1278 (7th Cir.1991), as support.
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wrongful government actions "regardless of the fairness of the
procedures used to implement them." Daniels v. Williams,
474 U.S. 327, [337-38, 107 S.Ct. 677, 677-78 (1986)
(Stevens, J., concurring)]. As to these two types of claims,
the constitutional violation actionable under § 1983 is complete
when the wrongful action is taken... . The Due Process
Clause also encompasses a third type of protection, a
guarantee of fair procedure. A § 1983 action may be brought
for a violation of procedural due process, but . . . [ijn
procedural due process claims, the deprivation by state action
of a constitutionally » at 6» protected interest in "life, liberty,
Or property" is not in itself unconstitutional; what is
unconstitutional is the deprivation of such an interest without
due process of law .... [/d.] The constitutional violation
actionable under § 1983 is not complete when the deprivation
occurs; it is not complete unless and until the State fails to
provide due process.
Colon, 899 F.2d at 666 (citing Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S..113,
110 S.Ct. 975 (1990)).
In this case, clearly Rowe does not allege that the right of
self-defense is in the Bill of Rights, incorporated by the Fourteenth
Amendment to apply to the States. Rowe also does not claim that
the prison could deprive him of his right of self-defense so long
as they provided him with notice and a hearing; in fact, our
review of the record indicates he did not present any evidence of
insufficient process at all.
Rather, he maintains that the IDOC’s policy deprived him of
a "fundamental liberty," and that "no man should be wrongfully
convicted to satisfy the security concerns of a governmental
entity." Thus, Rowe is actually arguing against the state’s ability
to deprive him of his right to claim self-defense at all. Such a
claim is most properly characterized as substantive due process.
See Colon, 899 F.2d at 670-71 (holding that prisoner who alleged
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Fourteenth Amendment violation but who could not prove
constitutionally deficient process actually stated a substantive,
rather than procedural, due process claim). See also Daniels y.
Williams, 474 U.S. at 339, 106 S.Ct. at 679 (Stevens, J.,
concurring) ("[A] complaint does not state a valid procedural due
process objection--and a valid § 1983 claim--if it does not include
a challenge to the fundamental fairness of the State’s
procedures.").
Rowe principally suggests that the constitutional right to
self-defense for prisoners derives from one of the enumerated
defenses to culpability set forth as a part of the Indiana Criminal
Code, Ind.Code Ann. § 35-41-3-2. However, Rowe also refers to
the right to self-defense as an > at 7> "essential" or "basic" liberty,
one that "predates all laws known to . . . mankind." We infer,
that by using such terms, Rowe also urges the position that the
right to self-defense is a fundamental right without a specific
textual basis, inherent in the Due Process Clause itself.
If found to exist, such constitutional rights we review
according to the standard set out in Hadi yv. Horn, 830 F.2d 779
(7th Cir. 1987). "Under this standard, ’when a prison regulation
impinges on inmates’ constitutional rights, the regulation is valid
if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.’" Jd.
at 783-84 (quoting Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254
(1987); O’Lone v. Shabazz, 482 US. 342, 107 S.Ct. 2400
(1987)).
First, we must examine whether there exists a constitutional
right of self-defense. We believe that Rowe’s argument regarding
the provision in the Indiana Criminal Code, Ind.Code Ann. §
35-41-3-2, which provides that "[nJo person in this state shall be
placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting
himself or his family by reasonable means necessary," is
misguided. While it is true that in procedural due process claims,
"[a] liberty interest . . . may be created by statute or binding
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administrative regulation," Castaneda v. Henman, 914 F.2d 981,
983 (7th Cir. 1990), it is because in those claims, the deprivation
of a liberty interest itself is not unconstitutional. In procedural
due process, it is the lack of predeprivation procedure that offends
the Constitution. See, Daniels v. Williams, 474 U.S. at 337, 106
S.Ct. at 678 (Stevens, J., concurring) (in procedural due process,
"the deprivation may [even] be entirely legitimate--a state may
have every right to discharge a teacher or punish a student--but the
State may nevertheless violate the Constitution by failing to
provide appropriate procedural safeguards."). This is not true in
Rowe’s case, which supposedly challenges the violation of a
substantive federal right.
In Colon v. Schneider, 899 F.2d at 660, we held that a
prisoner who alleged that he was maced in violation of the
Wisconsin Administrative Code could not successfully »at
8> "transmute [that] violation of state law into a constitutional
violation" by claiming that the state regulation created a
substantive federal right under the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. Colon attempted to bring his § 1983
action under the doctrine of procedural due process; however, he
failed to allege that the state deprived him of any constitutionally
required procedural protections. The court thus held that Colon
had stated a substantive, rather a procedural, claim. The court
then noted that the actions of a state entity are:
subject to constitutional infirmity to the same but no greater
extent than if the action were taken by the state legislature. Its
legality under the state statute can neither add to nor subtract
from its constitutional validity. Mere violation of a state
statute does not infringe the federal Constitution. And state
action, even though illegal under state law, can be no more or
less constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment than if it
were sanctioned by the state legislature.
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Id. at 672 n. 19 (quoting Snowden y. Hughes, 321 U.S. 1, 11, 64
S.Ct. 397, 402 (1944)).
The flaw in Rowe’s claim is very similar to the one in Colon.
As in that case, appellant’s reliance here on Ind.Code § 35-41-3-2
is merely tantamount to alleging that the appellees have violated
state law. "The violation of state law is not itself the violation of
the Constitution." Archie v. City of Racine, 847 F.2d 1211, 1217
(7th Cir. 1988) (en banc), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1065, 109 S.Ct.
1338 (1989). We need not decide whether § 35-41-3-2, which
relates to criminal prosecutions, actually creates a right to
self-defense for prisoners in administrative disciplinary hearings,
in order to decide that a state statute is insufficient to
“constitutionalize" the right allegedly embodied in it. Accord>at
9>ingly, we hold that the Indiana Statute cannot create a
substantive constitutional right to self-defense.
Next, we consider if the right to self-defense is a fundamental
constitutional right within the Due Process Clause itself. We
conclude that it is not. First, we find no precedent establishing a
“We note that although Rowe has complained that the conduct of prison
officials denied him a statutory defense Provided in Indiana’s criminal code, he
has not raised a state law claim in this case. Rowe alleges only constitutional
violations by the appellees under § 1983.
Even if Rowe had tried to raise a state law claim in this case, we would not
have been in a position to entertain it. This is because the Supreme Court has
held that the Eleventh Amendment bars “federal suit{s} against state officials on
the basis of state law . . . when... . the relief sought and ordered has an impact
directly on the State itself." Pennhurst State School & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465
U.S. 89, 104 S.Ct. 900 (1984). Because Rowe is challenging the IDOC’s
self-defense policy as well as the CAB’s adverse ruling, the relief Rowe requests
would clearly have a direct effect on the State. Thus, in this case, had Rowe
actually sought relief based on § 35-41-3-2 we would have been compelled to
dismiss his claim, because under Pennhurst, "we lack the authority to direct state
Officials to comply with state law.” Archie, 847 F.2d at 1216.
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constitutional right of self-defense in the criminal law context, see
White v. Arn, 788 F.2d 338 (6th Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 480
U.S. 917, 107 S.Ct. 1370 (1987) (holding that in criminal cases,
there is no constitutional right to self-defense founded in the
Eighth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and that a state may
require a defendant to prove self-defense as an affirmative defense
to obtain acquittal), although some courts have commented on the
matter, see generally, Griffin v. Martin, 785 F.2d 1172, 1187 n.37
(4th Cir.), aff'd & op. withdrawn, 795 F.2d 22 (1986) (en banc),
cert. denied, 480 U.S. 919, 107 S.Ct. 1376 (1987) (stating in
dictum, "It is difficult to the point of impossibility to imagine a
right in any state to abolish self defense altogether, thereby leaving
one a Hobson’s choice of almost certain death through violent
attack now or statutorily mandated death through trial and
conviction of murder later."); Isaac v. Engle, 646 »at 10> F.2d
1129 (6th Cir. 1980) (en banc) (Merritt, J. dissenting on other
grounds), rev’d, 456 U.S. 107, 102 S.Ct. 1558 (1982) ("I believe
that the Constitution prohibits a state from eliminating the
justification of self- defense from its criminal law .. . .").
Furthermore, even a substantive due process right that has
been clearly established in Fourteenth Amendment criminal
jurisprudence may not necessarily apply to prison inmates in
disciplinary proceedings. "Prison disciplinary proceedings are not
part of a criminal prosecution, and the full panoply of rights due
a defendant in such proceedings does not apply." Wolff, 418 U.S.
at 556, 94 S.Ct. at 2975. The Supreme Court has "settled that a
prison inmate ’retains those [constitutional] rights that are not
inconsistent with his status as a prisoner or with the legitimate
penological objectives of the corrections system.’" Turner, 482
U.S. at 96, 107 S.Ct. at 2265 (quoting Pell v. Procunier, 417
U.S. at 822, 94 S.Ct. at 2804).
Given that there is virtually no support for such a judicially
created constitutional right in the criminal law, we believe that
manufacturing such a right for application in non-criminal, prison
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disciplinary proceedings is even less justified. This is particularly
so where prison authorities daily face an intractable problem of
violence within the prison walls. A right that threatens to
undermine prison discipline by encouraging inmates to combat
violence with more violence subverts a core prison function of
ensuring order and safety within the institution. Without
disputing or passing on the primacy of the "right" of self-defense
in a criminal law context, we determine that in view of our
deference to the administrative discretion of prison authorities,
prisoners do not have a fundamental right to self-defense in
disciplinary proceedings.
Even if Rowe did have a constitutional right of self-defense,
the IDOC’s policy to deny a prisoner the right to raise it as a
complete defense is reasonably related to legitimate penological
interests. The policy purportedly advances prison security by
discouraging all physical violence »at 11>amongst inmates. It
acts as a didact by warning prisoners that violence against another
inmate is a unilaterally condemned and perpetually sanctionable
violation of prison rules. It also acts as a deterrent because a
prisoner who is caught fighting cannot reliably exculpate himself
later with a claim of self-defense. In addition, the IDOC’s policy
does not leave a prisoner with a genuine claim of self-defense
without an alternative means of raising the defense in a CAB
proceeding, if a disciplinary charge is brought against him. The
IDOC policy allows a CAB to consider self-defense in mitigation.
In this case, the mitigating factor of self-defense led to a
suspension of Rowe’s disciplinary Segregation, so that the record
of rule violation and the possibility of penalty reinstatement were
the only consequences Rowe suffered from the CAB’s adverse
finding. Given that prison security and the reduction of violence
are certainly legitimate penological interests, and that appellees’
self-defense policy does not absolutely deprive a prisoner of his
ability to prove and benefit from a claim of self-defense, we
conclude that the IDOC’s policy would not have impermissibly
infringed Rowe’s constitutional rights.
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Il.
There is a way in which Rowe’s claim may be cast as a
procedural due process claim. We may convert all of Rowe’s
arguments for the right to self- defense into an allegation that the
CAB proceeding itself was constitutionally deficient procedure
because it did not admit self-defense as a complete defense. None
of the parties seem to view the issue in this way in their briefs.
As we mentioned above, Rowe makes no argument that he
received constitutionally deficient procedure before the appellees
deprived him of a protected liberty interest. However, the district
court bases its findings at least in part on procedural due process
grounds, so we will briefly analyze Rowe’s claim from a
procedural viewpoint.
In Kentucky Dep’t of Corrections v. Thompson, 490 U.S. 454,
109 S.Ct. 1904 (1989), the Supreme Court set out > at 12>a two
step analysis for reviewing the procedural due process claims of
prisoners. "[T]he first [step] asks whether there exists a liberty or
property interest which has been interfered with by the State; the
second examines whether the procedures attendant upon that
deprivation were constitutionally deficient." Jd. at 460, 109 S.Ct.
at 1908.
The district court held that because Rowe’s penalty had been
suspended, and he "suffered no tangible punishment as a result of
the disciplinary proceeding,” the CAB’s sanction did not implicate
a protected liberty interest. We disagree that Rowe’s penalty of
one year of disciplinary segregation was insufficient to trigger the
procedural protections guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.
In our view, Rowe’s punishment, although suspended, constitutes
"consequences visited on the prisoner that are qualitatively
different from the punishment characteristically suffered by a
person convicted of crime." Vitek v. Jones, 445 U.S. 480, 493,
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100 S.Ct. 1254, 1263 (1980). The case the district court cites,
Gaston v. Taylor, 946 F.2d 340 (4th Cir. 1991) (en banc), is
inapposite here. In Gaston, the prisoner received a 15 day
segregation penalty that was suspended contingent on the
requirement that the prisoner remain on good behavior for 90
days. Rowe’s penalty was a full year of segregation that will not
be forgiven or withdrawn for any reason until the end of his
prison time. We do not think that prison officials may find a
prisoner in violation of prison rules, then subject him to the
open-ended threat of a year of disciplinary segregation without
implicating a protected liberty interest.
We thus turn to examine whether Rowe received
constitutionally sufficient procedure. The only complaint we can
divine Rowe as having with the CAB proceeding is that he was
unable to assert self-defense as a complete defense. He received
notice, a hearing, and a written statement of evidence relied upon
and reasons for the disciplinary action.
"Due process is a flexible concept, the import of which is to
provide an opportunity to be heard." Castaneda v. rat
13> Henman, 914 F.2d 981, 985 (7th Cir. 1990). The Supreme
Court set the standard governing the procedural protections
required by the Due Process Clause in Mathews v. Eldridge, 424
U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893 (1976). Mathews established that due
process analysis must "weigh the risk of an erroneous deprivation
of [a private interest] through the procedures used" and “the
Government’s interest, including the function involved and the
fiscal and administrative burdens that the additional or substitute
procedural requirement would entail." /d. at 335, 96 S.Ct. at
903. Rowe may be said to have been deprived of his opportunity
to be heard with regard to his defense of self-defense. However,
the IDOC’s pre-punishment procedures accommodated Rowe by
allowing him to raise self-defense in mitigation. Thus, Rowe was
not wholly deprived of the defense of self-defense--indeed, he was
allowed to argue and present evidence on the issue. Rowe was
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barred simply from using self-defense as a complete justification
to his disciplinary charge of battery. This accommodation of
Rowe, weighed against the IDOC’s interest in refusing to
recognize self-defense as a complete defense in order to discourage
prison violence, allows the self- defense policy to survive
constitutional scrutiny. We conclude that even if Rowe were to
have stated a procedural due process claim, the IDOC’s policy
regarding self-defense does not render the CAB proceeding
insufficient procedure.
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, the district court’s grant of
summary judgment to the appellees is AFFIRMED.
> AT 14>RIPPLE, Circuit Judge, dissenting.
While reciting the admonition of Wolff v. McDonnell, 418
U.S. 539, 555, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 2974 (1974), that "a prisoner is not
wholly stripped of constitutional protections when he is imprisoned
for crime," and reminding us that there "is no iron curtain drawn
between the Constitution and the prisons of this country," id. at
555-56, the court today holds that the Constitution of the United
States permits a state to leave, under all circumstances, an
incarcerated person without any lawful recourse against even the
most inhuman and vile attack on that person’s life or bodily
integrity. It sanctions the decision of the state government of
Indiana to require that any person incarcerated under its authority
submit, no matter what the circumstances, to any threat to life or
bodily integrity without any recourse to self-defense of any kind.
This holding renders the phrases of Wolff meaningless poetry.
I do not believe that it is hyperbole to characterize the position
of the majority as a novel one. As the majority implicitly admits,
no court has ruled directly on whether the state may, consistent
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with the due process clause, impose, as a matter of absolute
liability, a sanction for protecting oneself from death or bodily
harm. There is indeed authority for the proposition that there is
no “constitutional right of self-defense, founded in the Eighth,
Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments, which an accused cannot be
required to prove." White v. Arn, 788 F.2d 338, 347 (6th Cir.
1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 917 (1987). However, as even the
majority seems to acknowledge, the question of the allocation of
burden of proof, the issue before the court in White and similar
cases, is different from the issue of whether the state can require
someone to accept grievous bodily injury or even the possibility
of death as the price for not incurring criminal or quasi-criminal
liability. As Judge Murnaghan of the Fourth Circuit has written:
It is difficult to the point of impossibility to imagine a right in
any state to abolish self defense altogether, thereby leaving
one a Hobson’s choice of almost cermat 15>tain death
through violent attack now or statutorily mandated death
through trial and conviction of murder later.
Griffin v. Martin, 785 F.2d 1172, 1187 n.37 (4th Cir.), a 'd by
an equally divided court and op. withdrawn, 795 F.2d 22 (1986)
(en banc), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 919 (1987). See also John C.
Jeffries, Jr. & Paul B. Stephan III, Defenses, Presumptions and
Burden of Proof in the Criminal Law, 88 Yale L.J. 1325, 1366-79
(1979) (suggesting that self-defense is so critical to the concept of
criminal responsibility and has such substantial effects on a
defendant’s liberty that to allow a conviction where reasonable
doubt as to self-defense remains would be inconsistent with the
fundamental notions of fairness that underlie the State’s duty to
establish criminal liability).
My brothers make the further point, however, that the
recognition of self-defense in the prison environment poses special
problems for the security of the institution and that these
considerations justify the abrogation of the defense in the prison
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setting, even if such a defense must be recognized in other
contexts. We have, no doubt, a special obligation to be sensitive
to the legitimate requirements of prison security. This obligation
brings with it an obligation of deference to the informed judgment
of prison authorities with respect to matters of prison
administration, especially those issues that implicate matters of
security.' Yet, the Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear
that the mere invocation of "security" or "expertise" does not
permit a Judge of the Third Article to > at 16> walk away from the
issue.” There must be a demonstration on the part of the prison
authorities that the deprivation in question is indeed "reasonably
related to legitimate penological interests" of the corrections
system. Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89 (1987). The principal
reason offered by the majority has a superficial appeal. The
absence of self-defense, it maintains, fosters a peaceful
environment within the prison walls because it acts as a deterrent
to all violence. A prisoner caught fighting, it reasons, cannot
reliably exculpate himself later with a claim of self-defense. Yet,
we are told in the following sentence, a prisoner can claim
self-defense in mitigation of punishment, thus, it would seem,
destroying a good deal of the supposed deterrent.
See, e.g., Block v. Rutherford, 468 U.S. 576, 584-85 (1984) (stating that
security considerations are “peculiarly within the province and professional
expertise of corrections officials") (citations omitted); Pardo v. Hosier, 946 F.2d
1278, 1280 (7th Cir.1991) (stating that "prison administrators must be accorded
wide-ranging deference in the ... execution of policies and practices that in their
judgment are needed to preserve internal order and discipline and to maintain
institutional security") (citations omitted).
See, e.g., Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 405 (1974) (stating that,
although courts must show deference in dealing with problems of prison
administration, "a policy of judicial restraint cannot encompass any failure to
take cognizance of valid constitutional claims whether arising in a federal or state
institution”).
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The difficulty with the majority’s position is its assumption
that the self-defense afforded to prisoners would have to be the
same as that available in the general community and could not take
into consideration the difficult circumstances of modern prison
life. It may well be that self-defense in the prison environment
ought to be available as a defense of extreme last resort and
available only when the prisoner can establish that he cannot rely
on the state to protect him, a situation that, the cases of this court
make clear, occurs with some frequency. But to forbid all
resistance to all threats to life and bodily integrity is not to ensure
a lack of violence, as the majority suggests, but to leave the weak
and the vulnerable the easy prey of the strong and the vicious. It
is indeed a novel proposition of constitutional law to hold that a
state, having deprived a person of liberty according to law, can
further punish that individual for attempting to stay alive, even
when »at 17> the state itself is not ready, willing, or capable of
assuming that responsibility by substituting its own strong arm for
that of the prisoner-victim.?
Tt ought to be pointed out that the Indiana legislature actually might afford
prisoners more protection than the majority assumes. Indiana Code Ann. §
35-41-3-2 states that "[nJo person in this state shall be placed in legal jeopardy
of any kind whatsoever for protecting himself or his family by reasonable means
necessary." Whenever we interpret a statute, we must begin with the plain
meaning of that statute. Notably, the Indiana statute reserves the right of
self-defense to any situation in which a “person” is put "in legal jeopardy of any
kind whatsoever." Ind.Code Ann. § 35-41-3-2 (emphasis added). As the majority
quite graphically points out in the latter part of it opinion, the consequences of
the disciplinary hearing in this case were indeed significant and can quite
comfortably fit with the term "legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever." The
constraints of the Eleventh Amendment, as interpreted in Pennhurst State School
& Hospital v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 106 (1984), preclude our entertaining
a Claim for relief based only on state law. Any remedy on this basis must be
sought in the Indiana courts.
a-17
(REPRODUCED)
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
JUDGMENT - WITH ORAL ARGUMENT
Date: March 2, 1994
BEFORE: Honorable JESSE E. ESCHBACH, Circuit Judge
Honorable KENNETH F. RIPPLE, Circuit Judge
Honorable MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge
No. 93-1141
JOHN S. ROWE,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
a,
H. CHRISTIAN DEBRUYN, individually and in his official
capacity as Commissioner of the Indiana Department of
Correction,
JACK R. DUCKWORTH, individually and in his official capacity
as Superintendent, Indiana State Reformatory,
MICHAEL J. WATSEN, individually and in his official capacity
as Correctional Lieutenant and the Chair of the Conduct
Adjustment Board, Indiana State Reformatory, et al.,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division
No. 91 C 1723, John D. Tinder, Judge
The judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED, in
accordance with the decision of this court entered on this date.
(1061-110393)
a-18
(REPRODUCED)
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
JOHN S. ROWE,
Plaintiff-Appeliant,
No. 93-1141
H. CHRISTIAN DEBRUYN,'
Individually and in his
official capacity as
Commissioner, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
May 3, 1994
Before
RICHARD A. POSNER, Chief Judge
WALTER J. CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge
WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge
RICHARD D. CUDAHY, Circuit Judge
JESSE E. ESCHBACH, Circuit Judge
JOHN L. COFFEY, Circuit Judge
JOEL M. FLAUM, Circuit Judge
FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge
KENNETH F. RIPPLE, Circuit Judge
DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge
MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge
ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge
Appeal from the United
States District Court
for the Southern
District of Indiana,
vy. Indianapolis Division.
No. 91 C 1723
John D. Tinder,
Judge.
ORDER
'H. Christian DeBruyn is substituted for his predecessor, James E.
Aiken, as Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction pursuant
to Fed. R. App. P. 43.
a-19
No. 93-1141 Page 2
On consideration of the petition for rehearing and suggestion
for rehearing en banc filed in the above-entitled cause, a vote of
the active members of the Court was requested, and a majority of
the judges? in active service have voted to deny rehearing en
banc. All of the judges on the original panel have voted to deny
the petition for rehearing. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the petition for rehearing with
suggestion for rehearing en banc is DENIED; IT IS FURTHER
ORDERED that the petition for rehearing is hereby DENIED.
2 Judges Cudahy, Flaum, Ripple, and Rovner voted to grant
rehearing en banc.
oe sek eee
ad elt
Se AWA BES CRM Se Cah SBI PAN
(REPRODUCED)
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
Hon.
JOHN S. ROWE,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
No. 93-1141
H. CHRISTIAN DEBRUYN, !
Individually and in his
official capacity as
Commissioner, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
May 5, 1994
Before
RICHARD A. POSNER, Chief Judge
WALTER J. CUMMINGS, Circuit Judge
WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge
RICHARD D. CUDAHY, Circuit Judge
JESSE E. ESCHBACH, Circuit Judge
JOHN L. COFFEY, Circuit Judge
JOEL M. FLAUM, Circuit Judge
FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge
KENNETH F. RIPPLE, Circuit Judge
DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge
MICHAEL S. KANNE, Circuit Judge
ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge
Appeal from the United
States District Court
for the Southern
District of Indiana,
V. Indianapolis Division.
No. 91 C 1723
John D. Tinder,
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
) Judge.
)
AMENDED ORDER
'H. Christian DeBruyn is substituted for his predecessor, James E.
Aiken, as Commissioner of the Indiana D
to Fed. R. App. P. 43.
a-21
€partment of Correction pursuant
No. 93-1141 Page 2
The order issued in this case on May 3, 1994, is vacated and
the following order is entered.
On consideration of the petition for rehearing and suggestion
for rehearing en banc filed in the above-entitled cause, a vote of
the active members of the Court was requested, and a majority of
the judges” in active service have voted to deny rehearing en
banc. All of the judges on the original panel have voted to deny
the petition for rehearing. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the petition for rehearing with
suggestion for rehearing en banc filed by the plaintiff-appellant is
DENIED;
On consideration of the petition for rehearing filed by the
defendants-appellees in the above-entitled cause, all of the judges
of the original panel have voted to deny a rehearing. Accordingly,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the petition for rehearing
filed by the defendants-appellees is hereby DENIED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the opinion issued on March
2, 1994 is hereby modified as follows:
The first full paragraph on page 12, next-to-last sentence,
strike the words "that will not be" and replace with ", and the
record does not reveal whether his penalty will be”.
> Judges Cudahy, Flaum, Ripple, and Rovner voted to grant
rehearing en banc.
a-22
(REPRODUCED)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
JOHN S. ROWE,
Plaintiff, Cause No. IP 91-1723-C
vs.
)
)
)
)
)
JAMES E. AIKEN, ef al., )
)
)
Defendants.
JUDGMENT
The Court having this day made its Entry in the above cause,
IT IS NOW THEREFORE ADJUDGED AND DECREED
that the defendants’ motion for summary judgment is GRANTED
and this cause of action is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
John Daniel Tinder [STAMPED]
JOHN DANIEL TINDER, Judge
United States District Court
Date: DEC 13 1992
Copies to:
Hamid R. Kashini
1800 N. Meridian Street
Suite 402
Indianapolis, IN 46202-1492
David A. Nowak
Deputy Attorney General
219 State House
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
(REPRODUCED)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA
INDIANAPOLIS DIVISION
JOHN S. ROWE,
)
)
Plaintiff, ) Cause No. IP 91-1723-C
vs. )
)
JAMES E. AIKEN, et al., )
)
)
Defendants.
' ENTRY OF FINDINGS OF FACT AND
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW ON MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND
ORDER DIRECTING ENTRY OF JUDGMENT
This cause is before the Court on the plaintiff's amended
complaint, on the defendants’ answer, on the defendants’ motion
for summary judgment and on the plaintiff's response to such
motion.
Whereupon the Court, having read and examined such
complaint, answer, motion and supporting and opposing materials,
and being duly advised, now makes the following findings of fact
and conclusions of law and Order.
Findings of Fact
1. Plaintiff John S. Rowe is an inmate at the Indiana
Reformatory. On July 29, 1991 Rowe was charged with
"committing battery upon another person." He was notified of the
charge and of his procedural rights in connection with it on July
a-24
30, 1991, at which time he requested a lay advocate and several
witnesses.
2. On August 1, 1991 a disciplinary hearing was held before
a conduct adjustment board consisting of Lt. Watson and
correctional officers Morris and Robinson. After considering
information from various sources, the conduct board found Rowe
guilty of the offense as charged. However, because of mitigating
circumstances, it imposed only one year of disciplinary segregation
and suspended the imposition of that sanction.
3. The conduct board found that, up to a point, Rowe acted
in self-defense. Beyond that point, however, Rowe’s action in
hitting his assailant passed from self-defense to battery.
4. In this action, filed December 30, 1991, Rowe claims that
the members of the conduct board violated his federally protected
rights by not recognizing his plea of self-defense. He has
: broadened his claim to include the former Commissioner of the
Indiana Department of Correction and the Reformatory
Superintendent as defendants. He seeks declaratory and injunctive
relief (expungement of the misconduct report and results) and
money damages. Each defendant is sued in both his individual
and official capacities.
i 5. The Department of Correction does not recognize, in
express terms, a defense of self-defense for a prison disciplinary
proceeding. The defendants’ rationale for this is that in the
correctional setting a contrary policy "would only encourage
offenders to use force in the name of self-defense and. . . would
only add to the number of assaults by inmates on other inmates."
The Department of Correction does recognize, however, that self-
defense can be a mitigating factor and takes that into consideration
in (a) determining what offense is appropriate and (b) determining
what sanction is appropriate. Self-defense, therefore, is not a
complete defense.
6. The defendants have appeared by counsel and seek the
: entry of summary judgment. The plaintiff has opposed the
motion. Any conclusion of law stated below, to the extent that it
Ue eee? ia
See re thre
Aa OE NE eae ES No A, ih, abe SPL hs MM Hd
constitutes a finding of fact, is herein incorporated by reference as
an additional finding of fact by the court.
Conclusions of Law
Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact, the Court now enters
the following Conclusions of Law.
1. The plaintiff's action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §
1983, which provides a cause of action to redress the violation of
federally secured rights by a person acting under color of state
law. Bell v. City of Milwauke* 746 F.2d 1205 (7th Cir. 1984).
The first inquiry in every Section 1983 case is whether there has
been the deprivation of a right secured by the Constitution or laws
of the United States, for without a predicate constitutional
violation, one cannot make out a prima facie case under § 1983.
Juriss v. McGowan, 957 F.2d 345, 349 n.1 (7th Cir. 1992), citing
Baker v. McCollan, 443 U.S. 137, 140 (1979).
2. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution prohibits a state from depriving all persons, including
inmates, of life, liberty, or property without due process. Wolff
v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 556 (1974). It is, of course, well
understood that state inmates suffering the loss of a protected
liberty or property interest have limited due process rights in the
context of prison disciplinary proceedings. Jd. at 561.
3. Under Wolff, the inmate must receive: (1) advance written
notice of the disciplinary charges; (2) an opportunity to call
witnesses and present documentary evidence in his defense if
consistent with institutional safety and correctional goals; and (3)
a written statement by an impartial factfinder of evidence relied on
and the reasons for disciplinary action. /d., 418 U.S. at 563-567.
In addition, there is a substantive component to the protections to
which an inmate is entitled. That is, there must be “some
evidence" supporting the decision made by the conduct board.
Superintendent, Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Walpole
v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 455 (1985)
4. These protections, however, are triggered not by the fact
of a disciplinary proceeding but by whether the disciplinary
a-26
sanction which he received implicated a protected liberty interest.
Castenada v. Henman, 914 F.2d 981, 983 (7th Cir. 1990), cert.
denied, 111 S. Ct. 1085 (1991).
Contrary to Castenada’s assertion, the due process
rights mandated by Wolff turn not upon the mere
fact of discipline, but upon whether the
disciplinary sanction imposed by prison officials
implicates an inmate’s liberty interest. Wolff, 418
U.S. at 557. Thus, the relevant question to this
appeal is not whether Castenada was in fact
disciplined but whether the disciplinary sanction
which he received implicated a protected liberty
interest.
Id.
5. In Gaston v. Taylor, 946 F.2d 340 (4th Cir. 1991) (en
banc), the court concluded that a prisoner could not claim
violation of Wolff where he received a suspended sentence of
isolation, requiring him to serve no time in isolation and bringing
about no change in the length or conditions of his original
sentence. The same reasoning applies here. Rowe suffered no
tangible punishment as a result of the disciplinary proceedings, nor
has he identified any impact of the misconduct finding on the
length of his confinement.
6. Even if the defendants deprived Rowe of a liberty interest,
it does not necessarily follow that his rights have been violated,
for the second question which must be answered in such an event
is “whether the procedures attendant upon that deprivation were
constitutionally sufficient." Kentucky Dept. of Corrections v.
Thompson. 109 S. Ct. 1904, 1908 (1989).
7. Wolff did not recognize, nor has its progeny established,
an inmate’s right to assert a claim of self-defense as a complete
defense to misconduct charges involving the use of violence. The
touchstone of due process is freedom from arbitrary governmental
action, Wolff, 418 U.S. at 558, but "[p]rison disciplinary
a-27
ciel
proceedings are not part of a criminal prosecution, and full
panoply of rights due a defendant in such proceedings does not
apply." Jd. at 556. The defendants have established, through
defendant Watsen’s affidavit, the DOC policy which does not
recognize self-defense as a complete defense is far from arbitrary.
On the contrary, it represents a reasonable, though not inevitable,
response to the intractable problem of violence within a prison’s
walls. As explained in Pardo v. Hosier, 946 F.2d 1278, 1280-81
(7th Cir. 1991):
In evaluating constitutional claims of prisoners,
we must balance the need to protect prisoners’
procedural rights against the need for prison safety
and security. Redding v. Fairman, 717 F.2d
1105, 1112 (7th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 465
U.S. 1025, 104 S. Ct. 1282 (1984). In prison
disciplinary proceedings, “prison administrators
must be ’accorded wide-ranging deference in the
. execution of policies and practices that in
their judgment are needed to preserve internal
order and discipline and to maintain institutional
security." Mathews v. Fairman, 779 F.2d 409,
415 (7th Cir. 1985) (quoting Bell v. Wolfish, 441
U.S. 520, 547, 99 S. Ct. 1861 (1979)).
8. The DOC policy makes inmates aware the violence
directed to another person, including another inmate, is always a
violation of institutional rules. This policy is not arbitrary and is
certainly linked to an essential penological objective in a way
which should not be second-guessed by the courts.
9. In any event, this case does not squarely present the issue
of whether the DOC’s self-defense policy impermissibly impinges
on a due process interest, for Rowe’s conduct exceeded the limits
of self-defense. This renders the DOC’s policy regarding inmates’
claims of self-defense irrelevant to the disposition of Rowe’s case.
Further, although Rowe disputes the extent and need for the force
a-28
oe
CLE Lice cURL GREER NRIOL. ng sgh
BARE > let caret &
SES TT
he used, this is merely a matter of credibility which may not be
redetermined here. The role of a reviewing court is limited to
determining whether there was sufficient evidence to support the
committee’s decision. Superintendent v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445
(1985).
10. "The Constitution does not require that the evidence
relied upon logically preclude any conclusion but the one reached
by the disciplinary board... ." Culbert v. Young, 834 F.2d 624,
631 (7th Cir. 1987). Based on this standard, therefore, the Court
may not weigh the "conflicting" evidence which the conduct board
may have considered. Viens vy. Daniels, 871 F.2d 1328, 1334-35
(7th Cir. 1989): McKinney v. Meese, 831 F.2d 728 (7th Cir.
1987). Judicial review under Hill is limited. Rowe is not entitled
to a new trial or a de novo Opportunity to persuade a new
factfinder of what did or did not occur.
11. Summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith 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." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c);
Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). A "genuine
issue of material fact exists only where ’there is sufficient evidence
favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that
party." Dribeck Importers, Inc. v. G. Heileman Brewing Co.,
883 F.2d 569, 573 (7th Cir. 1989) (quoting Anderson vy. Liberty
Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249 (1986)). In considering such a
motion, the court must view all inferences in the light most
favorable to the nonmoving party. See Regner v. City of Chicago,
789 F.2d 534, 536 (7th Cir. 1986).
12. Rule 56(c) "mandates the entry of summary judgment,
after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party
who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence
of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that
party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp., 477
U.S. at 322. That is precisely the case here. Considering the
particular sanction which was imposed, Rowe’s claim fails at the
a-29
outset because he did suffer the loss of a protected liberty interest.
Beyond this, however, there was no arbitrary action in any aspect
of the charge, disciplinary proceeding or sanction involved in the
events identified in this action and there was no constitutional
infirmity in the proceeding which would entitle Rowe to relief in
this case. The defendants have shown that there is no genuine
issue as to any material fact and that they are entitled to judgment
as a matter of law.
ORDER
Based on the foregoing,
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the defendants’ motion
for summary judgment is GRANTED. Judgment consistent with
this Entry shall now issue.
John Daniel Tinder [STAMPED]
JOHN DANIEL TINDER, Judge
United States District Court
Date: DEC 18 1992
Copies to:
Hamid R. Kashini
1800 N. Meridian Street
Suite 402
Indianapolis, IN 46202-1492
David A. Nowak
Deputy Attorney General
219 State House
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
a-30
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.