Opinion ID: 712148
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Prohibition of Witness Testimony During Disciplinary Proceedings in the Administrative Segregation Wing.

Text: 29 Shabazz contends that the Jail's witness policy for disciplinary hearings violated his right to due process of law. The defendants argue, however, that Shabazz's due process rights could not have been violated because, under the Supreme Court's decision in Sandin, he had no liberty interest in being free from disciplinary segregation. The County defendants' argument overlooks one fact that is crucial in the context of segregation imposed as disciplinary punishment: Shabazz was a pretrial detainee, not a convicted prisoner. 30 In Sandin, the Supreme Court held that an incarcerated prisoner had no liberty interest in being free from segregated confinement imposed as a disciplinary measure. Sandin, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2301; see also Mujahid v. Meyer, 59 F.3d at 932 (applying Sandin ). It is important to understand, however, the rationale underlying Sandin 's ruling with regard to disciplinary segregation. The Court there stated: 31 Discipline by prison officials in response to a wide range of misconduct falls within the expected parameters of the sentence imposed by a court of law. 32 Sandin, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2301. (emphasis added). Again, in summarizing its holding, the Court announced: 33 We hold, therefore, that neither the Hawaii prison regulation in question, nor the Due Process Clause itself, afforded Conner a protected liberty interest that would entitle him to the procedural protections set forth in Wolff [v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974) ]. The regime to which he was subjected as a result of the misconduct hearing was within the range of confinement to be normally expected for one serving an indeterminate term of 30 years to life. 34 Id. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2302 (emphasis added). Thus a convicted prisoner simply has no liberty interest in freedom from increased restraint unless the restraint exceed[s] the sentence in such an unexpected manner as to give rise to protection by the Due Process Clause of its own force, or the state has conferred a liberty interest from confinement conditions impos[ing] atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life. Id. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2300. 35 None of this rationale applies, however, to a pretrial detainee like Shabazz, who had not been convicted or sentenced at the time he was disciplined. Indeed, Sandin made the distinction itself, in refuting Conner's argument that any state action taken for a punitive reason encroaches on a liberty interest. Id. Conner had relied on Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 60 L.Ed.2d 447 (1979), which Sandin distinguished as follows: 36 Bell dealt with the interests of pretrial detainees and not convicted prisoners.... The Court in Bell correctly noted that a detainee may not be punished prior to an adjudication of guilt in accordance with due process of law. The Court expressed concern that a State would attempt to punish a detainee for the crime for which he was indicted via preconviction holding conditions. Such a course would improperly extend the legitimate reasons for which such persons are detained--to ensure their presence at trial. 37 Sandin, --- U.S. at ----, 115 S.Ct. at 2300 (citations omitted). 38 Sandin thus recognizes that its rationale regarding incarcerated prisoners is not applicable to pretrial detainees. Sandin leaves Bell v. Wolfish untouched. Bell involved a challenge by pretrial detainees to general jail conditions, asserting that they amounted to the imposition of punishment prior to conviction. The Supreme Court concluded that the conditions did not amount to punishment, and therefore did not infringe the detainees' liberty interest under the Due Process Clause. But the Court left no doubt that a detainee may not be punished prior to an adjudication of guilt in accordance with due process of law. Bell, 441 U.S. at 535, 99 S.Ct. at 1872. 39 Because the plaintiffs in Bell were challenging general jail conditions, that case turned on whether the conditions were so severe that they could constitute punishment for the crimes that had led to the pretrial detention. Shabazz's challenge is different; he challenges disciplinary segregation. That segregation was not imposed as punishment for the crime that led to Shabazz's pretrial detention; it was imposed as punishment for violation of jail rules or policies. That fact makes no analytical difference, however. Indeed, Shabazz's case is easier than Bell in one regard: there can be no question that the purpose and effect of Shabazz's segregated confinement was punishment. The central principal of Bell applies: Shabazz as a pretrial detainee may not be punished without a due process hearing. 40 United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987), provides further support for the right of pretrial detainees to a due process hearing before they are restrained for reasons other than to assure their appearance at trial. Salerno upheld the provision of the Bail Reform Act permitting pretrial detention of persons found dangerous to the community. The Court held that detention for dangerousness was not punishment, and that such detention did not violate the due process clause because of the rigorous procedures attending such detention, including a full adversary hearing before an impartial officer. Id. at 751-52, 107 S.Ct. at 2103-04. 41 Thus nothing about Shabazz's status as a pretrial detainee deprived him of the liberty interest in not being punished without due process. 3 This conclusion does not mean that pretrial detainees are free to violate jail rules with impunity. Indeed, Bell recognizes the need for preserving internal order and discipline among pretrial detainees as well as convicted prisoners. Bell, 441 U.S. at 546, 99 S.Ct. at 1877. Our conclusion does mean, however, that pretrial detainees may be subjected to disciplinary segregation only with a due process hearing to determine whether they have in fact violated any rule. 4 The detainees have no sentences to encompass such disciplinary confinement. 42 The elements of due process in a prison disciplinary hearing have long been established by Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), which the district court properly applied in determining that the Jail's witness policy violated Shabazz's constitutional right. Wolff requires that jail authorities allow an inmate who faces disciplinary proceedings and whose liberty interest is threatened to call witnesses in his defense, when permitting him to do so will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety and correctional concerns. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 566, 94 S.Ct. at 2979. The Jail's published policy on disciplinary hearings appears to comport with Wolff 's requirement. The policy states that an inmate charged with a major rule violation may call witnesses, but if not practical for safety or security reasons, you may be asked to submit questions you want asked of them. Witnesses may be other inmates or staff members. 43 The district court found, however, that in practice the Jail followed a blanket policy of prohibiting inmates from calling any witnesses under any circumstances to testify at disciplinary hearings. Instead, Jail officials always exercised their option to have the inmate identify his witnesses and pose written questions to them. The officers would then later conduct remote witness interviews, the results of which were incorporated into the material considered by the disciplinary hearing committee when it decided the inmate's case. It is the Sheriff's position that this procedure constitutes the calling of witnesses, and satisfies Wolff. 44 We have previously held that a blanket denial of permission for an inmate to have witnesses physically present during disciplinary hearings is impermissible, even where jail authorities provide for interviewing of witnesses outside the disciplinary procedure. In Bartholomew v. Watson, 665 F.2d 915 (9th Cir.1982), 5 which involved facts nearly identical to those of the present case, we acknowledged that Wolff does not require jail officials to afford inmates an unrestricted right to call witnesses. Nor does it require officials to state their reasons for refusing to call a witness, although the Court would deem such notice useful. Id. at 918. However, Wolff does require that 45 the decision to preclude the calling of a witness should be made on a case-by-case analysis of the potential hazards which may flow from the calling of a particular person.... A blanket proscription against the calling of certain types of witnesses in all cases involving institutional security is an overreaction which violates minimal due process. 46 Id. 47 The district court found that, despite its written policy, the Jail did not evaluate inmate requests to call witnesses on a case-by-case basis. On the basis of that finding, the court correctly applied Wolff and Bartholomew to conclude that the Jail's de facto policy of not calling witnesses did not meet the requirements of due process. Because Shabazz as a pretrial detainee retained a liberty interest in freedom from disciplinary confinement without due process, the court properly granted summary judgment on the issue of the Sheriff's liability for violating Shabazz's rights. 48 Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308, 96 S.Ct. 1551, 47 L.Ed.2d 810 (1976), from which the Sheriff quotes at length, involves a different issue. The Sheriff relies on language in that opinion concluding that due process does not require a jail to allow an inmate to confront and cross-examine witnesses. Id., 425 U.S. at 322-23, 96 S.Ct. at 1560. That assertion is undisputed. It is also irrelevant. 49 The witnesses at issue in Baxter, and in the portion of Wolff that Baxter analyzed, were prosecution witnesses, and not the inmate's witnesses. An entirely different balancing of concerns applied to confrontation and cross-examination of those witnesses: greater likelihood of hostility and resentment between the accused and the witness, which would erode discipline and threaten corrective aims; lengthening of the proceedings; and a lesser due process interest for the inmate in confronting these witnesses than in calling his own to provide exculpatory evidence. See Baxter, 425 U.S. at 322-23, 96 S.Ct. at 1560; Wolff, 418 U.S. at 561-64, 568-69, 94 S.Ct. at 2977-78, 2980-81. The Baxter Court, as well as the Wolff Court, determined that on this issue the balance tipped in favor of the prison authorities' concerns for pursuing their safety and correctional goals. Baxter, 425 U.S. at 324, 96 S.Ct. at 1560-61; Wolff, 418 U.S. at 567-68, 94 S.Ct. at 2980. Those concerns, and that balance, do not apply to the present case, in which Shabazz sought to call his own witnesses. 50