Opinion ID: 723853
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Retaliatory Discipline

Text: 17 The prohibition against transferring an inmate in retaliation for his initiating legal action against the prison is equally applicable to prison officials' decision to discipline an inmate in retaliation for his legal activities. The standard, however, is different. To avoid liability on Goff's retaliatory discipline claim, the defendants must simply prove that there was some evidence supporting their decision to discipline Goff, for if the contested discipline was imposed for an actual violation of prison rules, the retaliatory discipline claim must fail. Cornell, 69 F.3d at 1389. On remand the district court concluded that by failing to offer any credible evidence that Goff committed the alleged assault, the defendants failed to satisfy the some evidence standard. 18 The district court noted that the confidential informant's statement lacked sufficient indicia of reliability, as the informant communicated only what somebody else had said that he saw. The court further noted that the suspect nature of this evidence was heightened by the defendants' failure to properly investigate the confidential informant's source of knowledge. We perceive no error in the district court's ruling, for we have repeatedly held that the district court must make a determination of the reliability of a confidential informant to determine whether some evidence exists to support a disciplinary committee's decision. See Earnest v. Courtney, 64 F.3d 365, 367 (8th Cir.1995); Turner v. Caspari, 38 F.3d 388, 393 (8th Cir.1994); Freitas v. Auger, 837 F.2d 806, 810 (8th Cir.1988). A bald assertion by an unidentified person, without more, cannot constitute some evidence of guilt. Freitas, 837 F.2d at 810. 19 The only other evidence offered was the transcript of the defendants' interview with Smith. In finding this evidence to be unreliable, the district court pointed to the inconsistent nature of Smith's statements, Smith's failure to testify under oath at any time, Smith's failure to testify at the hearing, and the fact that the statements were procured through leading questions and with the promised reward of transfer to a more desirable facility. 2 Again, we see no error in the district court's ruling, for if some evidence is to be distinguished from no evidence, it must possess at least some minimal probative value if it is to be found adequate to satisfy the requirement of the Due Process Clause that the decisions of prison administrators must have some basis in fact. See Superintendent v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 456, 105 S.Ct. 2768, 2774-75, 86 L.Ed.2d 356 (1985). As indicated above, the district court did not err in finding that the confidential informant's statement did not meet this minimal threshold of reliability. Likewise, Smith's statements, although not cloaked in the garb of anonymity, were, as the district court found, rendered so suspect by the manner and circumstances in which given as to fall short of constituting a basis in fact for the defendants' decision to impose discipline upon Goff. 20 We acknowledge that this latter finding by the district court is subject to the defendants' argument that the district court did not heed the Supreme Court's admonition in Superintendent v. Hill that in ascertaining whether the some evidence standard has been satisfied, courts are not to make an independent assessment of the credibility of witnesses or weigh the evidence. Id. at 455, 105 S.Ct. at 2773-74. We conclude, however, that the some evidence standard does not so cabin the scope of judicial review as to require that credence be given to that evidence which common sense and experience suggest is incredible. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court did not err in subjecting Smith's statements to this minimal level of review and in finding that the defendants' decision to discipline Goff lacked a basis in fact and was thus retaliatory.