Case Name: PONTE, SUPERINTENDENT, MASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION v. REAL
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1985-05-20
Citations: 471 U.S. 491
Docket Number: No. 83-1329
Parties: PONTE, SUPERINTENDENT, MASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION v. REAL
Judges: Rehnquist, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C. J., and White and O’Connor, JJ., joined, and in all but the second paragraph of footnote 2 of which Blackmun and Stevens, JJ., joined. Stevens, J., filed an opinion concurring in part, in Part II of which Blackmun, J., joined, post, p. 501. MARSHALL, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN, J., joined, post, p. 504. Powell, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Reporter: United States Reports
Volume: 471
Pages: 491–523

Head Matter:
PONTE, SUPERINTENDENT, MASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION v. REAL
No. 83-1329.
Argued January 9, 1985
Decided May 20, 1985
Rehnquist, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C. J., and White and O’Connor, JJ., joined, and in all but the second paragraph of footnote 2 of which Blackmun and Stevens, JJ., joined. Stevens, J., filed an opinion concurring in part, in Part II of which Blackmun, J., joined, post, p. 501. MARSHALL, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN, J., joined, post, p. 504. Powell, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Martin E. Levin, Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts, argued the cause pro hac vice for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Francis X. Bellotti, Attorney General, and Barbara A. H. Smith, Assistant Attorney General.
Jonathan Shapiro argued the cause and filed a brief for respondent.

Opinion:
Justice Rehnquist
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held that a prison disciplinary hearing which forfeited "good time" credits of respondent John Real was conducted in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because there did not appear in the administrative record of that hearing a statement of reasons as to why the disciplinary board refused to allow respondent to call witnesses whom he had requested. Real v. Superintendent, Massachusetts Correctional Institution, Walpole, 390 Mass. 399, 456 N. E. 2d 1111 (1983). We granted certiorari, 469 U. S. 814 (1984), to review this judgment because it seemed to us to go further than our pronouncement on this subject in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U. S. 539 (1974). While we agree with the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that prison officials at some point state their reason for refusing to call witnesses requested by an inmate at a disciplinary hearing, we disagree with that court that such reasons or support for reasons must be placed in writing or otherwise exist as a part of the administrative record at the disciplinary hearing. We vacate the judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court, and remand the case to that court.
In 1981 respondent John Real was an inmate at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Walpole. In December of that year he was working in the prison metal shop and heard a commotion in an adjacent office. He entered the office and observed another prisoner fighting with a corrections officer. A second corrections officer attempted to break up the fight, and ordered respondent and other inmates who were watching to disperse immediately. Respondent did not depart, and another corrections officer escorted him to his cell.
One week later respondent was charged with three violations of prison regulations as a result of this imbroglio. He notified prison officials, on a form provided for that purpose, that he wished to call four witnesses at the hearing which would be held upon these charges: two fellow inmates, the charging officer, and the officer who was involved in the fight. A hearing was held on the charges in February 1982. At this hearing the charging officer appeared and testified against respondent, but the board declined to call the other witnesses requested by respondent. Respondent was advised of no reason for the denial of his request to call the other witnesses, and apparently whatever record there may be of this disciplinary proceeding does not indicate the board's reason for declining to call the witnesses. The board found respondent guilty as charged, and after an administrative appeal in which penalties were reduced, respondent received the sanction of 25 days in isolation and the loss of 150 days of good-time credits.
Respondent challenged these sanctions by seeking a writ of habeas corpus in the Massachusetts trial court. That court sustained respondent's claim that petitioner Joseph Ponte, a Superintendent of the M. C. I. at Walpole, had deprived him of that due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because no reasons whatsoever were advanced by petitioner in court as to why respondent was not allowed to call the requested witnesses at the hearing.
On appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, this judgment was affirmed but for different reasons. That court discussed our decision in Wolff v. McDonnell, supra, and noted that it "[l]eft unresolved . . . the question whether the Federal due process requirements impose a duty on the board to explain, in any fashion, at the hearing or later, why witnesses were not allowed to testify." 390 Mass., at 405, 456 N. E. 2d, at 1115. The court concluded that there must be some support in the "administrative record" to justify a decision not to call witnesses, and that the administrative record in this case was barren of any such support. Because of its conclusion, the court declared that the Massachusetts regulations governing the presentation of proof in disciplinary hearings, Mass. Admin. Code, Tit. 103, §430.14 (1978) were unconstitutional as to this point, because those regulations did not require that the administrative record contain facts or reasons supporting the board's denial of an inmate's witness request. 390 Mass., at 405-407, 456 N. E. 2d, at 1116, citing Hayes v. Thompson, 637 F. 2d 483, 487-489 (CA7 1980).
Petitioner does not dispute that respondent possessed a "liberty" interest, by reason of the provisions of Massachusetts state law, affording him "good time" credits, an interest which could not be taken from him in a prison disciplinary hearing without the minimal safeguards afforded by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The touchstone of due process is freedom from arbitrary governmental action, Wolff, 418 U. S., at 558, but "[pjrison disciplinary proceedings are not part of a criminal prosecution, and the full panoply of rights due a defendant in such proceedings does not apply." Id., at 556. Chief among the due process minima outlined in Wolff was the right of an inmate to call and present witnesses and documentary evidence in his defense before the disciplinary board. We noted in Wolff and repeated in Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U. S. 308 (1976), that ordinarily the right to present evidence is basic to a fair hearing, but the inmate's right to present witnesses is necessarily circumscribed by the penological need to provide swift discipline in individual cases. This right is additionally circumscribed by the very real dangers in prison life which may result from violence or intimidation directed at either other inmates or staff. We described the right to call witnesses as subject to the "mutual accommodation between institutional needs and objectives and the provisions of the Constitution . . . ." Baxter, supra, at 321, citing Wolff, supra, at 556.
Thus the prisoner's right to call witnesses and present evidence in disciplinary hearings could be denied if granting the request would be "unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals." Wolff, supra, at 566; Baxter, supra, at 321. See also Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U. S. 5, 9, and n. 6 (1980). As we stated in Wolff:
"Prison officials must have the necessary discretion to keep the hearing within reasonable limits and to refuse to call witnesses that may create a risk of reprisal or undermine authority, as well as to limit access to other inmates to collect statements or to compile other documentary evidence. Although we do not prescribe it, it would be useful for the [disciplinary board] to state its reasons for refusing to call a witness, whether it be for irrelevance, lack of necessity, or the hazards presented in individual cases." 418 U. S., at 566.
See Baxter, supra, at 321. Notwithstanding our suggestion that the board give reasons for denying an inmate's witness request, nowhere in Wolff or Baxter did we require the disciplinary board to explain why it denied the prisoner's request, nor did we require that those reasons otherwise appear in the administrative record.
Eleven years of experience since our decision in Wolff does not indicate to us any need to now "prescribe" as constitutional doctrine that the disciplinary board must state in writing at the time of the hearing its reasons for refusing to call a witness. Nor can we conclude that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment may only be satisfied if the administrative record contains support or reasons for the board's refusal. We therefore disagree with the reasoning of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in this case. But we also disagree with petitioner's intimation, Brief for Petitioner 53, that courts may only inquire into the reasons for denying witnesses when an inmate points to "substantial evidence" in the record that shows prison officials had ignored our requirements set forth in Wolff. We further disagree with petitioner's contention that an inmate may not successfully challenge the board unless he can show a pattern or practice of refusing all witness requests. Nor do we agree with petitioner that "across-the-board" policies denying witness requests are invariably proper. Brief for Petitioner 53-55, n. 9.
The question is exactly that posed by the Supreme Judicial Court in its opinion: "whether the Federal due process requirements impose a duty on the board to explain, in any fashion, at the hearing or later, why witnesses were not allowed to testify." 390 Mass., at 405, 456 N. E. 2d, at 1115. We think the answer to that question is that prison officials may be required to explain, in a limited manner, the reason why witnesses were not allowed to testify, but that they may do so either by making the explanation a part of the "administrative record" in the disciplinary proceeding, or by presenting testimony in court if the deprivation of a "liberty" interest is challenged because of that claimed defect in the hearing. In other words, the prison officials may choose to explain their decision at the hearing, or they may choose to explain it "later." Explaining the decision at the hearing will of course not immunize prison officials from a subsequent court challenge to their decision, but so long as the reasons are logically related to preventing undue hazards to "institutional safety or correctional goals," the explanation should meet the due process requirements as outlined in Wolff.
We have noted in Wolff, supra, and in Baxter, supra, that prison disciplinary hearings take place in tightly controlled environments peopled by those who have been unable to conduct themselves properly in a free society. Many of these persons have scant regard for property, life, or rules of order, Wolff, 418 U. S., at 561-562, and some might attempt to exploit the disciplinary process for their own ends. Id., at 563. The requirement that contemporaneous reasons for denying witnesses and evidence be given admittedly has some appeal, and it may commend itself to prison officials as a matter of choice: recollections of the event will be fresher at the moment, and it seems a more lawyerlike way to do things. But the primary business of prisons is the supervision of inmates, and it may well be that those charged with this responsibility feel that the additional administrative burdens which would be occasioned by such a requirement detract from the ability to perform the principal mission of the institution. While some might see an advantage in building up a sort of "common law of the prison" on this subject, others might prefer to deal with later court challenges on a case-by-case basis. We hold that the Constitution permits either approach.
But to hold that the Due Process Clause confers a circumscribed right on the inmate to call witnesses at a disciplinary hearing, and then conclude that no explanation need ever be vouched for the denial of that right, either in the disciplinary proceeding itself or if that proceeding be later challenged in court, would change an admittedly circumscribed right into a privilege conferred in the unreviewable discretion of the disciplinary board. We think our holding in Wolff meant something more than that. We recognized there that the right to call witnesses was a limited one, available to the inmate "when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals." Id., at 566. We further observed that "[p]rison officials must have the necessary discretion to keep the hearing within reasonable limits and to refuse to call witnesses that may create a risk of reprisal or undermine authority, as well as to limit, access to other inmates to collect statements or to compile other documentary evidence." Ibid.
Given these significant limitations on an inmate's right to call witnesses, and given our further observation in Wolff that "[w]e should not be too ready to exercise oversight and put aside the judgment of prison administrators," ibid., it may be that a constitutional challenge to a disciplinary hearing such as respondent's in this case will rarely, if ever, be successful. But the fact that success may be rare in such actions does not warrant adoption of petitioner's position, which would in effect place the burden of proof on the inmate to show why the action of the prison officials in refusing to call witnesses was arbitrary or capricious. These reasons are almost by definition not available to the inmate; given the sort of prison conditions that may exist, there may be a sound basis for refusing to tell the inmate what the reasons for denying his witness request are.
Indeed, if prison security or similar paramount interests appear to require it, a court should allow at least in the first instance a prison official's justification for refusal to call witnesses to be presented to the court in camera. But there is no reason for going further, and adding another weight to an already heavily weighted scale by requiring an inmate to produce evidence of which he will rarely be in possession, and of which the superintendent will almost always be in possession. See United States v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co., 355 U. S. 253, 256, n. 5 (1957); Campbell v. United States, 365 U. S. 85, 96 (1961); South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 383 U. S. 301, 332 (1966).
Respondent contends that he is entitled to an affirmance even though we reject the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's holding that §340.14(6) is unconstitutional. Respondent argues that the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the trial court on two independent grounds: (1) the trial court's simple finding that petitioner's failure to rebut the allegations in respondent's complaint entitled respondent to relief; and (2) the unconstitutionality of §340.14(6) because due process requires administrative record support for denial of witnesses. We think that the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed only on the second ground, and that is the issue for which we granted certiorari. This Court's Rule 21.1(a); see also Rule 15.1(a). Respondent is of course entitled to urge affirmance of the judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court on a ground not adopted by that court, but whether the Supreme Judicial Court would have affirmed the judgment of the trial court on the reasoning we set forth today is, we think, too problematical for us to decide. It is a question best left to that court.
The judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts is vacated, and the case is remanded to that court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Justice Powell took no part in the decision of this case.
Massachusetts Admin. Code, Tit. 103, § 430.14 (1978), provides in part:
"(4) If the inmate requests the presence of the reporting officer . . . the reporting officer shall attend the hearing except when the chairman determines in writing that the reporting officer is unavailable for prolonged period of time [sic] as a result of illness or other good cause. . . .
"(5) The inmate shall be allowed but shall not be compelled to make an oral statement or to present a written statement in his own defense or in mitigation of punishment.
"(6) The inmate shall be allowed to question the reporting officer, to question other witnesses, to call witnesses in his defense, or to present other evidence, when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals. The factors that the chairman may consider when ruling on an inmate's questioning of witnesses, offer of other evidence, or request to call witnesses shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
"(a) Relevance
"(b) Cumulative testimony
"(c) Necessity
"(d) Hazards presented by an individual case.
"(7) the inmate shall be allowed to present relevant, non-cumulative documentary evidence in his defense."
Justice MARSHALL'S dissent maintains that a rule requiring contemporaneous reasons which are not made available to the prisoner is the only-one permitted by the United States Constitution. If indeed this rule is as beneficial to all concerned as the dissent claims, we may eventually see it universally adopted without the necessity of constitutionally commanding it. But we think that, as we indicate in this opinion, there are significant arguments in favor of allowing a State to follow either the approach advocated by the dissent or the approach described in this opinion. While the dissent seems to criticize our alternative as one which forces inmates to go to court to learn the basis for witness denials, it is difficult if not impossible to see how inmates under the dissent's approach which requires contemporaneous reasons kept under seal would be able to get these reasons without the same sort of court proceeding.
We think the dissent's approach would very likely lead to an increasing need for lawyers attached to each prison in order to advise the correctional officials; words such as "irrelevant" or "cumulative," offered by the dissent as possible bases for contemporary denials, post, at 517, are essentially lawyer's words. We think that the process of preparing contemporary written reasons for exclusion of testimony is very likely to require more formality and structure than a practice which requires bringing in an attorney only when a lawsuit is filed. The former may be ideally suited to a heavily populated State of relatively small area such as Massachusetts, but the latter may be more desirable in a sparsely populated State of large area such as Nevada. We think the Constitution permits either alternative.
The record in this case is exceedingly thin, and shows that some confusion existed at trial concerning respondent's habeas petition seeking review of the February 1982 disciplinary hearing and another unrelated petition arising out of a 1980 disciplinary hearing. The trial court also apparently granted incomplete relief, which was only corrected 10 months later by another judge who then stayed the relief. Moreover, the Supreme Judicial Court did not just affirm the trial court, but remanded to permit petitioner, at his option, to conduct another disciplinary hearing. Given the state of this record, we think it wise to remand for further proceedings.