Opinion ID: 516452
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The State-created liberty interest in use of prison grievance procedures.

Text: 63 Independent of his First Amendment claim, Jackson also asserts that there was retaliation because he used the established prison grievance procedure. We confronted a similar claim in Williams v. Rhoden, 629 F.2d 1099, 1103 (5th Cir.1980). In Williams the lower court had dismissed a prisoner's complaint of retaliation on the part of the Florida Probation and Parole Commission in denying him parole. The lower court based its dismissal on the ground that the possibility of obtaining parole is not a recognized entitlement protected by the due process laws. We agreed that state prisoners do not necessarily have a federal right to due process in parole release hearings. Williams, 629 F.2d at 1103. Our inquiry did not end there, however, as we wrote that: 64 [E]ven assuming that Williams had no such right here and thus that the Florida parole commission members he named could have acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying him parole and still escape possible liability under Section 1983 [citation omitted], parole commission members cannot escape possible Section 1983 liability for decisions to deny parole made in retaliation against or so as to hinder the exercise of federally protected rights. 65 Id. Similarly, we have recently held that a prisoner may raise the issue of retaliatory application of prison policies with respect to strip searches. See Hay v. Waldron, 834 F.2d 481, 487 (5th Cir.1987). 66 The Department of Corrections (hereafter, DOC) handbook 4 provides that inmates seeking to use formal procedures to resolve concerns must make a request to the warden in writing within thirty days after an incident. The handbook also provides that no reprisal action shall be taken against anyone for good faith use of this procedure. 5 Jackson's allegation is that the use of the grievance procedure is a liberty interest under the due process clause, as established by prison rules. He then claims retaliation against his exercise of that liberty interest. If such a liberty interest is indeed established by prison regulations, then retaliation against a prisoner for the exercise of it creates a valid claim under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. 67 The administrative proceedings and the summary judgment motion of the appellees reveal that they claimed Jackson was removed because he did a poor job in the State Capitol detail. On further examination it may be determined that his complaint to the warden was not in good faith, and hence the use of the grievance procedure was not justified. A facially valid claim, however, has been made. There is clearly a dispute of material fact. We must hold that summary judgment against Jackson on this claim of retaliation for use of the grievance procedure was in error. 68