Opinion ID: 3169927
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Adequate postdeprivation remedy.

Text: [¶12] The main focus of Chapman’s due process claim is on the confiscation of Television 1. Chapman argues that he was intentionally deprived of his property through an act unauthorized by prison policy (i.e. a state procedure). Specifically, Chapman alleges that when he returned to his cell after being in segregation in February 2012, he was told by Cpl. Dolan that her department did not have his television and that if they found it, they would return it to him. When the television was eventually found in another inmate’s cell, it was confiscated as contraband since Chapman’s number was on the television. Chapman alleges this form was not provided to him, nor was he told by prison officials that his television was found, and this is the basis of Chapman’s argument. WDOC Inmate Communication and Grievance Policy #3.100 does, in fact, provide a procedure to follow and a remedy for inmates with any kind of complaint. Chapman, however, did not take advantage of this process made available to him, and therefore does not establish a due process claim. 9 [¶13] In Parratt v. Taylor, a state prisoner sued prison officials under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that their negligent loss of a hobby kit he ordered from a mail-order catalog deprived him of property without due process of law, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In that case, the Supreme Court rejected the proposition that the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process “at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner” always requires the State to provide a hearing prior to the initial deprivation of property. “This rejection is based in part on the impracticability in some cases of providing any preseizure hearing under a state-authorized procedure, and the assumption that at some time a full and meaningful hearing will be available.” Parratt, 451 U.S. at 540-41, 101 S.Ct. at 1915-16. The Court in Parratt held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is not violated when a state employee negligently deprives an individual of property, provided that the state makes available a meaningful postdeprivation remedy. In other words, when there is an adequate and meaningful remedy available to an inmate deprived of his property, a due process claim is not established. [¶14] In Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 104 S.Ct. 3194, the respondent/inmate alleged under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that petitioner/prison employee intentionally destroyed certain of respondent’s personal property during a shakedown search of the respondent’s cell. The Supreme Court extended their holding in Parratt: If negligent deprivations of property do not violate the Due Process Clause because predeprivation process is impracticable, it follows that intentional deprivations do not violate that Clause provided, of course, that adequate state postdeprivation remedies are available. Accordingly, we hold that an unauthorized intentional deprivation of property by a state employee does not constitute a violation of the procedural requirements of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment if a meaningful postdeprivation remedy for the loss is available. For intentional, as for negligent deprivations of property by state employees, the state’s action is not complete until and unless it provides or refuses to provide a suitable postdeprivation remedy. Hudson, 468 U.S. at 533, 104 S.Ct. at 3204. In this case, the confiscation of Television 1 was authorized and intentional pursuant to WDOC Policy #3.006. Chapman argues DOC staff mixed up his property with another inmate’s property; that when they found the television in another inmate’s cell, they did not tell Chapman; and that they never gave him an opportunity to respond to the confiscation of the television. Even if, however, the confiscation was unauthorized, Chapman did, in fact, have a meaningful postdeprivation remedy available to him in the form of the DOC’s grievance procedure. 10 [¶15] The DOC’s Inmate Communication and Grievance Procedure provides inmates a meaningful postdeprivation remedy. This policy establishes uniform guidelines and procedures for communication between DOC staff and inmates, and it establishes an administrative process to resolve inmate grievances without involvement of the courts. Among the list of issues that can be grieved using the Inmate Grievance Procedure is “[a] dispute concerning other incident(s) occurring within the correctional facility that directly and personally affected the inmate who is filing the grievance, including the loss or destruction of the inmate’s approved personal property … .” Among the available remedies is restoration or restitution for personal property. The policy includes specific requirements for written responses to inmates who file grievances throughout the grievance process, and there are specific timelines that must be met throughout the process. The procedure for filing grievances was the same for all televisions confiscated from Chapman: An inmate must first attempt to resolve an issue informally through communication directly with the appropriate staff member; if that attempt is unsuccessful, the inmate may file a grievance form that is submitted to the grievance manager. Inmates have the opportunity to appeal a grievance manager’s decision to the Warden, as well as an opportunity to appeal a Warden’s decision to the Director of the Wyoming Department of Corrections. The Director’s decision on an inmate grievance appeal is final, and is not subject to further review. Finally, Section IV., A., 1. of Policy #3.100 states that the “Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) shall ensure that every inmate and every Department of Corrections employee has ready access to this policy and procedure regarding the inmate communication and grievance system.” [¶16] It is clear that Chapman understood the grievance process as he did file grievances pursuant to WDOC policy after the confiscations of Televisions 2 and 3. Chapman had an opportunity to file a grievance when he was released from segregation in February 2012, and was informed by Cpl. Dolan that property control did not have his television. Even though there was a process and remedy available to him, Chapman did not take advantage of it. Chapman did not file a grievance; he therefore failed to exhaust the remedies available to him. The Prison Litigation Reform Act of 19951 requires inmates to exhaust administrative remedies available to them before they can file a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See Porter v. Nussle, 534 U.S. 516, 524, 122 S.Ct. 983, 988, 152 L.Ed.2d 12 (2002).2 1 Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PLRA), 110 Stat. 1321–71, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(a) (1994 ed., Supp. V). 2 The current exhaustion provision differs markedly from its predecessor. Once within the discretion of the district court, exhaustion in cases covered by § 1997e(a) is now mandatory. All available remedies must now be exhausted; those remedies need not meet federal standards, nor must they be plain, speedy, and effective. Even when the prisoner seeks relief not available in grievance proceedings, notably money damages, exhaustion is a prerequisite to suit. And unlike the previous provision, which encompassed only § 1983 suits, exhaustion is now required for all actions ... brought with respect to prison conditions, whether under § 11 [¶17] We agree with the district court that there was no procedural due process violation concerning the confiscation of Television 1 because Chapman had an adequate postdeprivation remedy through pursuing the inmate grievance procedure.