Aupperlee v. Coughlin

97 F. Supp. 2d 336, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7549, 2000 WL 713797
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedMay 31, 2000
DocketNo. CV 98-7245 (ADS)(ETB)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 97 F. Supp. 2d 336 (Aupperlee v. Coughlin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aupperlee v. Coughlin, 97 F. Supp. 2d 336, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7549, 2000 WL 713797 (E.D.N.Y. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

SPATT, District Judge.

On November 20, 1998 Frank Aupperlee (the “plaintiff’ or “Aupperlee”), initiated [338]*338this action by the filing of a complaint against Thomas Coughlin, III (“Cough-lin”), Philip Coombe, Jr. (“Coombe”), Glenn S. Goord (“Goord”), James F. Re-core (“Recore”), and Brian Fischer (“Fischer”) (collectively, the “defendants”). The plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“Section 1983”) when they refused to grant him reinstatement into the temporary work release program. Specifically, the plaintiff contends that the defendants violated his procedural and substantive due process rights!

Presently before the Court is the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ.P.”).

I. BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise stated, the following factual allegations are taken from the plaintiffs complaint. The defendants are employed by the Department of Correctional Services of the State of New York (“DOCS”). The plaintiff was convicted of assault in the first degree and sentenced on May 8, 1989 to an indeterminate term of imprisonment of 5 to 15 years at the Queensboro Correctional Facility. While incarcerated, Aupperlee was an exemplary inmate maintaining an unblemished institutional record and attaining a “satisfactory inmate adjustment evaluation.” As a result, on November 25, 1992, the plaintiff was admitted into the temporary work release program. Without exception, Aup-perlee adhered to program guidelines and made significant progress during the approximate year and a half while on temporary work release.

On March 29, 1994, the plaintiff was ordered to appear before the Queensboro temporary release committee (the “Committee”) for a statutorily required review of his work release status. Following a hearing, the Committee recommended that the plaintiff be denied further participation in the temporary work release program. On March 31, 1994, Fischer, the superintendent of the Queensboro Facility, approved the recommendation of the Committee and removed the plaintiff from the temporary work release program. Aup-perlee filed an administrative appeal from Fischer’s determination, which on May 12, 1994, was affirmed by defendant Recore, the director of the temporary work release program of the DOCS.

Following his removal, the plaintiff was re-institutionalized at the Mohawk Correctional Facility. Again, he remained highly active in many of the prison programs and continued to maintain an exemplary record. Aupperlee was subsequently transferred to Watkill Correctional Facility where he commenced a habeas corpus proceeding in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Ulster, challenging the Committee’s determination of March 31, 1994, denying him reinstatement into the temporary work release program. On February 8, 1996, Justice Vincent G. Bradley held that the plaintiff had been wrongfully dismissed from the temporary work release program and that the DOCS had failed to comply with the state mandated requirements governing “participation review.” On March 11, 1996, Justice Bradley ordered that the plaintiff be immediately reinstated in the temporary work release program.

The defendants appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department and the lower court judgment was stayed. On January 2, 1997, the Appellate Division affirmed Justice Bradley’s decision and granted the plaintiffs request for reinstatement into the temporary work release program, subject to reevaluation by the Committee in compliance with the New York Code of Rules and Regulations (“NYCRR”). See, People ex rel. Aupperlee v. Warden of Wallkill Correctional Facility, 235 A.D.2d 605, 652 N.Y.S.2d 132 (3d Dep’t 1997). On February 6, 1997, the DOCS, under the directive of defendant Fischer, reevaluated the plaintiffs admission into the temporary work release program, and revoked his participation in the program.

[339]*339The complaint alleges three causes of action. The first cause of action arises from his removal from the temporary work release program following the March 31,-1994 decision of the DOCS. The plaintiff asserts that pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, defendants James Recore and Brian Fischer deprived him of the procedural due process rights afforded by the United States Constitution and relevant state regulations governing correctional facilities. The plaintiff alleges that defendants Re-core and Fischer violated the statutorily mandated procedures set forth in the NYCRR by denying him the right to a full and fair evidentiary hearing.

The plaintiffs second cause of action arises from a state common law claim of unlawful imprisonment resulting from Re-core and Fischer’s alleged contemptuous disregard of the January 2, 1997 Order of the Appellate Division, which directed the plaintiffs reinstatement into the temporary work release program subject to reevaluation by the Committee pursuant to 7 NYCRR § 1904.5(b)(1). The plaintiffs unlawful imprisonment claim alleges that from January 2, 1997 to February 6, 1997, he was unlawfully imprisoned due to the approximate one month delay in the Committee conducting the hearing. Following the February 6, 1997 hearing, the plaintiff was again denied reinstatement by the defendant Fischer.

The plaintiffs third cause of action asserts that on February 6, 1997, defendants Recore and Fischer unlawfully denied him re-admission into the temporary work release program. In support of this claim, the plaintiff asserts that he was denied the statutorily defined considerations mandated by Section 1904.2(1) of the NYCRR. Specifically, the plaintiff contends that: (1) he was not provided with adequate notice of the issues raised against him at that hearing; (2) he was denied the right to have witnesses present; (3) he was not present for critical stages of the hearing; (4) he was denied immediate access to the record; (5) he was not informed of several witnesses who made statements against him; and (6) he was not able to obtain the transcripts or videotapes of the witnesses who testified against him.

Finally, the complaint alleges that three current or former commissioners of the New York State Department of Correctional Services; namely, Coughlin, Coombe, and Goord participated in the actions underlying the three causes of action outlined above, and thus violated the plaintiffs civil rights.

The defendants contend that they are entitled to qualified immunity as to the first three causes of action in that: (1) in March, 1994, the rights of the plaintiff were not clearly established when he was first denied reinstatement into the temporary work release program; (2) the 35 days that the plaintiff remained incarcerated prior to his court ordered reevaluation was objectively reasonable in light of the language of the January 2, 1997 Order of the Appellate Division; and (3) the law remained unclear in February, 1997 when the plaintiff, was denied re-admission into the work release program.

In addition, defendants Coughlin, Coombe, and Goord assert that the plaintiffs complaint does not include any allegations against them sufficient to impose individual liability for the alleged constitutional violations.

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Bluebook (online)
97 F. Supp. 2d 336, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7549, 2000 WL 713797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aupperlee-v-coughlin-nyed-2000.