Vines v. Howard

676 F. Supp. 608, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9070, 1987 WL 33126
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided October 5, 1987·No. Civ. A. 86-5225·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

NEWCOMER, District Judge.

This action is predicated on 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff, an inmate at Graterford Prison, is proceeding pro se. Plaintiff claims that the kinship between a correctional officer and the hearing examiner who conducted a disciplinary hearing violated plaintiff’s due process rights. ' Presently before this court is plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 56 and defendants’ response. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff, an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, filed this lawsuit asserting causes of action under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and 1986. I will construe the complaint to name the defendants in their official and individual capacities. The original defendants were Hearing Examiner Edward Howard, Sr. (“Howard, Sr.”), Captain Clark, Correctional Officer Edward Howard, Jr. (“Howard, Jr.”), Correctional Officer Judge, and Correctional Officer Telipiski. Plaintiff’s Complaint at ¶¶ 5-9. Each of the defendants was an official at Graterford at the time of the complaint. Id.

*610 Plaintiff claims that defendants denied him due process on two separate occasions. Id. at MI 14, 17-21. First, plaintiff asserts that he was falsely accused of violating strip search procedures by Correctional Officer Howard, Jr. Id. at 1112. Following the accusation, a disciplinary hearing was convened. Hearing Examiner Howard, Sr. presided over the disciplinary hearing. Id. at ¶ 10. Howard, Jr. testified at the hearing. Id. at II16. Hearing Examiner Howard, Sr. found that plaintiff violated the strip search procedure. Plaintiff asserts that the father-son relationship between Correctional Officer Howard, Jr. and Hearing Examiner Howard, Sr. prevented a fair review of the misconduct charge. As a result of the father-son relationship, plaintiff argues that he was denied due process. Plaintiffs Memorandum of Law at 2-5 (attached to Plaintiff’s “Traverse”).

Plaintiff also had asserted that his due process rights were violated when he was issued a second misconduct charge. Id. at 1117. This misconduct concerned an incident involving plaintiff and several correctional officers during which comments and jests were exchanged. Id. at 1117.

In an earlier memorandum opinion, this court dismissed plaintiff’s claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985 and 1986 as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d). Vines v. Howard, 658 F.Supp. 34 (E.D.Pa.1987). This court also dismissed the claims against defendants Clark, Judge, Telipiski and Howard, Sr. relating to the second misconduct. Id. at 36-37. I permitted plaintiff to proceed with his claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 relating to the first misconduct and the disciplinary hearing adjudicated by Howard, Sr. Id. at 36-37.

With respect to the first misconduct charge and the subsequent disciplinary hearing, plaintiff has now filed a motion for summary judgment based on the absence of any issue of material fact. This motion and plaintiff’s reply focus on defendant Howard, Sr.’s adjudication, not defendant Howard, Jr.’s initiation of the misconduct charge. Plaintiff claims that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment at 2. In their response, defendants contest plaintiff’s motion on the grounds that some of defendants’ actions were in good faith pursuant to and in reliance upon valid state laws and regulations and that none of plaintiff’s constitutional rights were violated. See Defendants’ Response to Motion for Summary Judgment at ¶ 5. More specifically, defendants submit that their actions complied with Bureau of Correction Administrative Directives. Id. at II6.

II. APPROPRIATE LEGAL STANDARD

A trial court may enter summary judgment if, after a review of the record, there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Bank of America Nat. Trust and Sav. Ass’n v. Hotel Rittenhouse Associates, 595 F.Supp. 800 (E.D.Pa.1984). Where no reasonable resolution of the conflicting evidence and inferences therefrom could result in a judgment for the nonmoving party, the moving party is entitled to summary judgment. Tose v. First Pennsylvania Bank, N.A., 648 F.2d 879, 883 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 893, 102 S.Ct. 390, 70 L.Ed.2d 208 (1981).

The moving party must initially show an absence of a genuine issue concerning any material fact. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). The moving party’s burden may be discharged by “showing”— that is, by pointing out to the trial court— that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party’s case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265, 275 (1986). Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 mandates the entry of summary judgment where the nonmoving party fails to show that a genuine issue does exist with respect to an element for which the nonmoving party will bear the burden of proof at the trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d at 273. Wisniewski v. Johns-Manville Corp., 812 F.2d 81 (3d Cir.1987). Rule 56 permits the nonmoving party to oppose a summary judgment motion by depositions, *611 answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, or affidavits, but not by the pleadings alone. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. at 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d at 275.

III. THE PARTIES’ ARGUMENTS

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Vines v. Howard, 676 F. Supp. 608, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9070, 1987 WL 33126 (E.D. Pa. 1987).

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