Opinion ID: 787387
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Disclose Evidence Relied on to Support the Disciplinary Ruling

Text: 58 Compounding the problem of inadequate notice, defendants also failed to disclose to Sira much of the evidence supporting his disciplinary ruling, specifically, the identities of the confidential informants who inculpated him in the Y2K strike and the substance of their statements. 8 An inmate's due process right to know the evidence upon which a discipline ruling is based is well established. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. at 564-65, 94 S.Ct. 2963; Francis v. Coughlin, 891 F.2d 43, 47 (2d Cir.1989). Such disclosure affords the inmate a reasonable opportunity to explain his actions and to alert officials to possible defects in the evidence. 59 Courts have long recognized, however, that the right to know evidence supporting prison disciplinary rulings is not absolute. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. at 564-65, 94 S.Ct. 2963. As the Supreme Court has observed, prison disciplinary proceedings take place in tightly controlled environments peopled by those who have been unable to conduct themselves properly in a free society. Ponte v. Real, 471 U.S. 491, 497, 105 S.Ct. 2192, 85 L.Ed.2d 553 (1985). The risks of violence or intimidation directed at either other inmates or staff are real. Id. at 495, 105 S.Ct. 2192. Thus, when the disclosure of evidence presents such risks, hearing officers may properly decline to inform an inmate of the adverse evidence. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. at 565, 94 S.Ct. 2963; Francis v. Coughlin, 891 F.2d at 48. 60 Courts will not readily second guess the judgment of prison officials with respect to such matters, see Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. 2963; nevertheless, the discretion to withhold evidence is not unreviewable, see Ponte v. Real, 471 U.S. at 498, 105 S.Ct. 2192. The touchstone of due process, after all, is freedom from arbitrary governmental action. Id. at 495, 105 S.Ct. 2192. Thus, prison officials who decide to circumscribe inmates' procedural rights at disciplinary proceedings must offer a reasonable justification for their actions, if not contemporaneously, then when challenged in a court action. See id. at 498-99, 105 S.Ct. 2192. 61 In this case, the sole contemporaneous reason stated by Capt. Morton to justify non-disclosure of the confidential evidence was as follows: Inmate Sira was not present during the confidential testimony because it was confidential, and would have put another inmate's life in danger. Hearing Disposition Form at 2. Certainly, testimony adduced at the confidential hearing indicates that the informants' lives might have been placed at risk if they had appeared before Morton or if their identities had been disclosed to Sira. But neither Morton's statement nor any evidence in the present record suggests that disclosure of the substance of the informants' statements to Sira would have presented safety risks. 62 For example, Informant 5's attribution of threatening conduct to Sira was conclusory, without any indication of the time, place or circumstances at issue; thus, it is not obvious from the record that its disclosure would have identified and, therefore, jeopardized the source. Similarly, although Informant 4's letter provided specific information as to strike leaders and a strike meeting site, it provided no context that identified the author. Informant 3 likewise reported only the overheard conversation of two other inmates, while Informant 2 disclosed information obtained simply from asking around. The record provides us with no basis to conclude that Sira could have divined the informants' identities from disclosure of the substance of these hearsay reports. 63 Most significantly, nothing in the record explains why Sira could not have been informed of the substance of Informant 1's disclosure that at a strike meeting held in Building 12 sometime after the lockdown ended, inmate Codorel had identified Sira to a whole group of persons as the individual who would enforce the work action in C Block. Codorel's statement is significant because it is akin to a co-conspirator declaration and, if deemed credible, might, by itself, have supported Sira's discipline. See infra at [35] (discussing minimal requirement of some reliable evidence to support prison discipline). Withholding this information from Sira, however, deprived him of any opportunity to explain or challenge this inculpatory evidence, whether by demonstrating some motive for Codorel falsely to inculpate him in the strike, or by proffering a statement from Codorel himself denying the informant's report, or by adducing any other facts or circumstances relevant to reliability. 64 It is possible that on further development of the record defendants will be able to justify withholding the substance of the informants' disclosures from Sira. See Ponte v. Real, 471 U.S. at 498-99, 105 S.Ct. 2192. But because no reasons are now before the court and because we review the record in the light most favorable to Sira, we must conclude that he presents a viable due process claim based on non-disclosure of evidence and that there is no basis to hold that any reasonable officer could have thought otherwise. Accordingly, defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity on this part of Sira's due process claim.