Opinion ID: 3004561
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Armato’s Fourteenth Amendment Claim Fails as a

Text: Matter of Law and is Precluded by the Available State Court Remedies Armato’s Fourteenth Amendment claim of a violation of his right to procedural due process also fails as a matter of law. A procedural due process claim requires the plaintiff to show (1) that he was deprived of a protected liberty or property interest, and (2) that he did not receive the process that was due to No. 13-1995 15 justify the deprivation of that interest. See McKinney v. George, 726 F.2d 1183, 1189 (7th Cir. 1984). We have already determined that Armato was not deprived of a protected liberty interest because he was released prior to the agreed-upon release date written in the Agreed Order. Even if the defendants had in fact incarcerated Armato beyond his proper release date, however, Armato received the process that was due in the circumstances. Here, the processes undertaken by the defendants were sufficient to address Armato’s situation and justify his prolonged detention. Armato argues that “[t]he defendants here, knew, or should have known, that the only reasonable processes were to seek court intervention, rely on the Parole Board decision or have a meaningful internal grievance procedure.” In fact, the defendants relied on all three of these options. The defendants immediately and persistently contacted the AG’s Office to pursue court intervention on behalf of the IDOC to amend Armato’s sentences in accordance with Illinois law. The decision of the Prison Review Board merely stated that Armato’s release was contingent upon his MSR and did not resolve the issue of whether Armato could be released without MSR. Armato also availed himself to the internal grievance procedure, where he was told the issue could only be resolved by a legal opinion. Armato’s prolonged incarceration was justified by the fervent efforts of the defendants to receive assistance from the AG’s Office to pursue court intervention to amend his sentence. Furthermore, Armato had numerous sufficient remedies available to him in the state court including a writ of habeas corpus, a writ of mandamus to correct the Agreed Order 16 No. 13-1995 stating his exact release date, and a claim of false imprisonment. In Toney-El v. Franzen, 777 F.2d 1224, 1225 (7th Cir. 1985), an inmate claimed a violation of his right to due process when the Department of Corrections improperly held him in prison for an additional 306 days due to confusion in calculating his release date. The district court found in favor of the inmate, but this court reversed. Id. at 1226. We found that the state court remedies giving the inmate “the right to seek a writ of mandamus from the state court to correct the error” and “a cause of action in Illinois courts for false imprisonment” were both “adequate and available” remedies, precluding a claim for due process for a state prisoner in Armato’s particular situation. Id. at 1228.