Opinion ID: 398038
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Practices and Procedures

Text: 96 Defendants shall forthwith conform their disciplinary practices to the requirements of Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935) (1974), for proceedings in which prisoners might be subjected to solitary confinement, loss of good time or demotion in time-earning class. To assure that Wolff and due process requirements are in fact observed: 97 1. Defendants shall institute systematic means of informing all prisoners, including those who do not speak English, of all operative disciplinary rules, whether they are unit rules or systemwide TDC rules. All disciplinary rules for which a prisoner may be punished must be in written form and must be adequately distributed or posted. 98 2. At the time of service of disciplinary charges, defendants shall provide the accused prisoner with the Offense Report or with substantially the same information contained in the Offense Report filed by the charging officer. Items of information which, if disclosed to the accused prisoner, would seriously jeopardize the safety of other inmates, need not be provided to the accused prisoner. 99 3. Defendants may not confine prisoners to administrative segregation pending a disciplinary hearing without first ascertaining whether administrative segregation is in fact necessary to safeguard institutional security (including the protection of other inmates or staff members), detailing in writing the reasons for administrative segregation, and insuring that prisoners are provided means, through counsel substitute or otherwise, to gather evidence and prepare their defense in anticipation of the disciplinary hearing. A prisoner segregated pending a disciplinary hearing shall, whenever possible, be given the hearing within three days. If the prisoner is not given a hearing in three days, the reasons therefor shall be set forth in the record of the hearing. In any event, a prisoner segregated pending a disciplinary hearing shall be given the hearing within ten days. Credit for time served in prehearing detention shall be considered by the disciplinary committee assessing a penalty in the event the prisoner is determined guilty of the charged infraction. 100 4. Defendants may not subject prisoners faced with disciplinary charges to any form of coercion designed to persuade them to waive their rights to a 24-hour notice prior to the disciplinary hearing. If prisoners are offered the opportunity to waive 24-hour notice, they must be fully informed, in terms intelligible to them, of the nature of the rights at stake. 101 5. Records of disciplinary hearings in which the result is unfavorable to the accused must be maintained, and must set out the evidence presented and considered at the hearing. The records must explain the reasons in each individual case for the determination of guilt and the particular punishment imposed. The accused prisoners shall be given copies of the records at the time they are informed of the committee's decision, or shortly thereafter. Copies of such records must be placed in the individual inmate's file. 102 6. TDC officials shall inform accused prisoners of their general right to present documentary evidence and call witnesses, at the time they are served with notice of the charges. Prisoners must be allowed, either personally or through counsel substitute, to communicate with a reasonable number of potential witnesses in advance of the disciplinary hearing. Witnesses requested by the prisoner must be permitted to testify, unless legitimate institutional needs dictate otherwise. Such needs shall be fully documented in the record. 103 7. Before proceeding with a disciplinary hearing, the committee must make a reasoned determination whether accused prisoners are in need of a counsel substitute. Any prisoner (a) whose literacy, mental abilities or misunderstanding of English is questionable; (b) who, because of the complexity of the issue, will be unlikely to be able to collect and present the evidence necessary for an adequate comprehension of the case; or (c) who is confined to any form of segregation pending the hearing, must be provided with counsel substitute. Defendants shall maintain a panel of TDC staff members, on a rotating basis, from which prisoners may choose counsel substitute. However, at the discretion of the disciplinary committee, the accused may be allowed to choose counsel substitute from among his fellow inmates, if he so desires. Counsel substitute must be given time and the means to confer with the accused prisoner and with potential witnesses, and to obtain documentary evidence, in order to provide adequate representation at the hearing. 104 8. No disciplinary committee may include an officer who has filed the charges, ordered the filing of the charges, or participated in any incident that led to the charges in question. 105 9. Prisoners charged with rule violations shall be present at disciplinary hearings unless their behavior during the hearing justifies their exclusion. If a prisoner refuses, or is unable, to appear at the hearing, the hearing may be conducted in the prisoner's absence. Prisoners may hear all evidence presented at the hearing, unless hearing the evidence will jeopardize the life or safety of the persons or the security and order of the institution. The record must establish and provide justification for the accused prisoner's absence during any portion of the hearing. 106 10. At a disciplinary hearing an accused prisoner may make statements, call witnesses (unless the testimony of such witness is likely to jeopardize the life or safety of persons or the security and order of the institution), and present documentary evidence. The prisoner, or his counsel substitute, may question all witnesses. If security considerations require that the accused prisoner be removed from the hearing for the presentation of any evidence or questioning of any witness, the prisoner's counsel substitute shall be permitted to remain and to act in the prisoner's behalf, unless the counsel substitute is an inmate whose hearing of the evidence will jeopardize the life or safety of persons or the security and order of the institution. The record must establish and provide justification for the exclusion of the prisoner counsel substitute, and such record shall be made available to the Special Master. 107 11. Defendants shall follow their own rules and regulations governing disciplinary procedures.