Opinion ID: 166742
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Misconduct Conviction and its Consequences

Text: 7 After a hearing, prison officials determined that Mr. Wilson had violated section 1541.1 and punished him by (1) revoking 180 of his earned credits and (2) imposing thirty days' disciplinary segregation. For reasons unclear on this record, Mr. Wilson's punishments were immediately suspended for 90 days. The State represented in its supplemental brief that, because the 90 days expired without incident, the 180 credits can never be revoked. Aples' Supl. Br. at 3 (Mar. 14, 2005). 8 Pursuant to DOC policy, any Class X misconduct conviction triggers certain  [m]andatory sanctions [that] cannot be suspended. Okla. DOC Policy OP-060125(IV)(E) (emphasis added). Here, the Class X misconduct conviction resulted in Mr. Wilson's mandatory reclassification from a class-level-four prisoner to a class-level-one prisoner, as required by the Oklahoma DOC's prisoner classification procedures. Okla. DOC Policy OP-060107(I)(C)(2)(a)(5) (stating that [l]evel I assignment is mandatory ... [u]pon conviction for any misconduct, effective the date of the misconduct). While a class-level-four prisoner, Mr. Wilson automatically earned 44 credits per month toward early release, but as a class-level-one prisoner, Mr. Wilson was statutorily ineligible to earn any credits. Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 138(D)(2). 9 Mr. Wilson was required to spend thirty days at level one. Okla. DOC Policy OP-060107(I)(C)(6). After that time, Mr. Wilson was promoted to level two, where he remained for one year until he received another misconduct conviction. Rec. vol. 1, doc. 10, Ex. A (Aples' Resp. to Pet., filed May 7, 2002); Aples' Supl. Br., Ex. D. 10 Prisoners are automatically assigned to level two upon reception into the prison system. Okla. DOC Policy OP-060107(I)(C)(2)(b). Ordinarily, an adjustment review committee of at least three prison officials reviews an inmate's classification at least once every four months to determine whether a change in classification is necessary because a prisoner has met (or failed to meet) certain statutory criteria. Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 138(F). The statutory classification system provides for classification between levels one and four depending on the factors listed in the statute, some of which are objective, such as the length of incarceration, and some of which require an exercise of prison officials' subjective judgment and discretion, such as whether a prisoner's hygiene has been outstanding or merely good. See id. § 138(D)(3) & (4). Once a prisoner is classified at a particular level, the prisoner is statutorily entitled to earn a specified number of credits. Id. Regardless of whether Mr. Wilson continued to meet the statutory criteria for promotion to levels three or four, the Class X conviction caused Mr. Wilson to become ineligible for promotion beyond class level two for a period of two years. Okla. DOC Policy OP-060107(I)(C)(2)(c) & (d); Okla. DOC Policy OP-060103(a)(M).