Williams v. Coalter

7 Mass. L. Rptr. 646
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedOctober 9, 1997
DocketNo. 971821F
StatusPublished

This text of 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 646 (Williams v. Coalter) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. Coalter, 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 646 (Mass. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Spurlock, J.

This case was before the court on September 12, 1997, for hearing on the above-captioned motion. Plaintiff, an inmate currently incarcerated at MCI-Cedar Junction, seeks to challenge the validity of a disciplinary hearing through an action in the nature of certiorari pursuant to G.L.c. 249, §4. In addition, plaintiff seeks injunctive relief and damages under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights for violations of his civil rights.

Defendants seek to dismiss all counts of the complaint. As grounds for their motion to dismiss, defendants argue that plaintiff is barred from challenging his disciplinary hearing because he failed to bring this action within the sixty-day statutory period. Defendants also assert that plaintiffs statutory and Constitutional rights have not been infringed upon and that this case should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. For the reasons which follow the motion to dismiss is ALLOWED.

[647]*647BACKGROUND

For the purposes of this motion to dismiss, the court assumes the following facts to be true and considers them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.

On May 25, 1996, MCI-Concord correction officer James Harrison filed a disciplinary report on the plaintiff. In the report, Harrison alleged that plaintiff, while being handcuffed so that he could be taken to the hospital, threatened to kill a nurse employed at the prison. The disciplinary report charged the plaintiff with violating the following provisions of 103 C.M.R. 430.24: (1) “disobeying an order of, lying to, or insolence toward a staff member”: (8) “conduct which disrupts or interferes with the security or orderly running of the institution”: (18) “fighting with, assaulting, or threatening another person with any offense against his person or property”: and (19) “use of obscene, abusive or threatening language, action, or gesture to any inmate, staff member, or visitors.”

A hearing on the disciplinary report was held on May 30, 1996. Plaintiff alleges that he did not receive twenty-four hours advance notice of the hearing and that he was not present at the hearing. In addition, plaintiff claims that he was placed on “awaiting action” status for twenty-eight days as a result of the disciplinary report.2 After the hearing, plaintiff was found guilty of offenses 103 CMR 430.24(1), (8), and (19). The recommended sanction was four weeks loss of visiting, phone, and canteen privileges. Plaintiff alleges that he was also given ten days in isolation.3 Plaintiff was notified of the hearing officer’s decision and filed an appeal with Superintendent William Coalter on June 5, 1996. Plaintiffs appeal was denied on June 11, 1996. The present action was filed on April 4, 1997.

DISCUSSION

A.12(b)(6) Standard

When evaluating the sufficiency of a complaint pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), the court must accept as true the well pleaded factual allegations of the complaint, as well as any inference which can be drawn therefrom in the plaintiffs favor. Faireny v. Savogran Co., 422 Mass. 469, 470 (1996); Eyal v. Helen Broadcasting Corp., 411 Mass. 426, 429 (1991). “(T]he complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond a doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Nader v. Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46 (1957)); see also Whitinsville Plaza, Inc. v. Kotseas, 378 Mass. 85, 89 (1979); Charbonier v. Amico, 367 Mass. 146, 152 (1975).

B.Plaintiffs Action in the Nature of Certiorari

A prisoner seeking relief for alleged improprieties in a disciplinary hearing is restricted to a civil action in the nature of certiorari, pursuant to G.L.c. 249, §4. Averett v. Commissioner of Correction, 25 Mass.App.Ct. 280, 287, rev’d on other grounds, 404 Mass. 28 (1989); Ford v. Commissioner of Correction, 27 Mass.App.Ct. 1127, 1128 (1989). According to c. 249, §4, as amended by St. 1986, c. 95, “such action shall be commenced within sixty days next after the proceeding complained of.” Where the prisoner has appealed the disciplinary board’s decision, the sixfy-day period starts running once the prisoner has notice that his administrative appeals have all been denied. McClellan v. Commissioner of Correction, 29 Mass.App.Ct. 933, 934 (1990).

In the instant case, plaintiff received notice on June 11, 1996, that his appeal to the Superintendent was denied. However, plaintiff did not file a complaint in this court until April 4, 1997. Accordingly, plaintiffs action in the nature of certiorari is time barred.

C.Plaintiffs 42 U.S.C. §1983 Claims

Plaintiff alleges that .defendants deprived him of his procedural due process rights when he was disciplined for threatening to kill a prison nurse while he was a pretrial detainee. In order for plaintiff to succeed on such a claim, he must be able to show that he was deprived of a liberty or property interest that is protected by the Due Process Clause, and that such denial was effected under color of State law. Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974); Martino v. Hogan, 37 Mass.App.Ct. 710, 714 (1994). Plaintiff contends that the State, through its regulations governing disciplinary proceedings of state prisoners, 103 Code Mass. Regs. §430.00, created a liberty interest by mandating procedures that are “due.” The reasoning of plaintiffs argument is foreclosed by Sandin v. Conner, 115 S.Ct. 2293 (1995), as clarified by Dominique v. Weld, 73 F.3d 1156, 1160-61 (1st Cir. 1996), and Hastings v. Commissioner of Correction, 424 Mass. 46, 50-52 (1997)

In the Sandin case, the United States Supreme Court retreated from its former doctrine under which courts examined the language in state statutes and regulations to determine whether a liberty interest was created. The Court held that States may still create liberty interests that afford prisoners Federal due process protections, however “these interests will generally be limited to freedom from restraint which . . . imposes atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life.” Sandin at 2300. Applying this standard to the situation in Sandin, the Court concluded that disciplining a prisoner for thirty days in segregated confinement did not present the type of atypical deprivation in which a state might create a liberty interest. Id. at 2301. In Hastings, the Supreme Judicial Court applied the holding of the Sandin decision to two inmates serving life sentences who were transferred to higher security institutions pursuant to a reclassification order. The court found that the transfers did not constitute “atypical hardship,” and, consequently, no Federal or state right of due process had been violated. Id. at 52.

[648]*648In the instant case, plaintiff claims that he was placed in isolation for ten days,4

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Related

Conley v. Gibson
355 U.S. 41 (Supreme Court, 1957)
Wolff v. McDonnell
418 U.S. 539 (Supreme Court, 1974)
Bell v. Wolfish
441 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Will v. Michigan Department of State Police
491 U.S. 58 (Supreme Court, 1989)
Sandin v. Conner
515 U.S. 472 (Supreme Court, 1995)
Lewis v. Casey
518 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1996)
James Dominique v. William Weld
73 F.3d 1156 (First Circuit, 1996)
Whitinsville Plaza, Inc. v. Kotseas
390 N.E.2d 243 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1979)
Charbonnier v. Amico
324 N.E.2d 895 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1975)
O'MALLEY v. Sheriff of Worcester County
612 N.E.2d 641 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1993)
Eyal v. Helen Broadcasting Corp.
583 N.E.2d 228 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1991)
Nader v. Citron
360 N.E.2d 870 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1977)
Martino v. Hogan
643 N.E.2d 53 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1994)
Averett
533 N.E.2d 1023 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1989)
Fairneny v. Savogran Co.
422 Mass. 469 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1996)
Hastings v. Commissioner of Correction
424 Mass. 46 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1997)
Averett v. Commissioner of Correction
25 Mass. App. Ct. 280 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1988)
Ford v. Commissioner of Correction
537 N.E.2d 1265 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1989)
McLellan v. Commissioner of Correction
558 N.E.2d 3 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
7 Mass. L. Rptr. 646, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-coalter-masssuperct-1997.