Opinion ID: 424928
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Plaintiff Akbar

Text: 13 A resident disciplinary report dated January 10, 1980, charged Jamal Ali Akbar with possession of gang-related materials--specifically letters or kites--in violation of A.R. 804 Secs. (II)(A)-(1), (14) & (15). Akbar was immediately placed in segregation. He made no advance written request for witnesses. 14 Akbar appeared before the Adjustment Committee on January 13. Under Record of Proceedings, the Committee wrote in part: Resident states that he was unaware of having the gang-related materials in his possession. States he had just picked up some affidavits from Resident Withers and placed them in a legal folder. In the section Basis for Decision/Evidence Relied Upon, the Committee wrote: Based on resident's testimony and evidence presented, the committee is convinced that resident is guilty of carrying kites and other unauthorized written material into the segregation unit and violated the trust in his law clerk position. 15 Defendant Hosier, then also a defendant in a pending civil rights suit for damages filed by Akbar, was chairman of the Committee. Although Akbar objected that he could not receive a fair hearing before Hosier, Hosier remained on the Committee. 16 The Committee imposed a disciplinary job transfer on Akbar, but reports of the violations were expunged from Akbar's record when another inmate verified Akbar's statement that the letters found in his possession were religious materials. 17 The jury awarded Akbar $3,500 compensatory damages for denial of an impartial decisionmaker and inadequate summaries of the evidence and reasons for the Committee decision. The jury also awarded Akbar $200 punitive damages against Defendant Hosier for refusing to disqualify himself from the Committee.