Opinion ID: 712148
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tape Recordings of the Disciplinary Hearings.

Text: 51 One further claim of Shabazz relates to due process in imposing disciplinary segregation. In his claim against Robare, Shabazz alleged that the deputy violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to Due Process in three ways: 1) Robare failed to tape record one of the three disciplinary hearings in issue; 2) Robare did not allow Shabazz to call witnesses at the hearings; and 3) Robare did not deliver to Shabazz written findings of the disciplinary committee for the hearings. Each alleged action violated published Jail policy. Wolff, as we have said above, requires that Shabazz be allowed to call witnesses unless security reasons preclude it in the particular case. Wolff also requires a written statement of reasons for disciplinary action. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 564, 94 S.Ct. at 2978. 52 The district court ordered rehearings in all three disciplinary matters, with the appropriate safeguards observed. After the rehearing and upon resentencing, Shabazz received seven fewer days segregation on the same charges. Thereafter, the court granted summary judgment to Shabazz on the issue of Robare's liability for violating Shabazz's due process rights. The court, however, did not specify the facts upon which it based its judgment. On review, we can discern no valid combination of undisputed facts and applicable law upon which the district court could properly grant Shabazz's motion for summary judgment. 53 The court could not base its summary judgment on Robare's failure to allow witnesses or to deliver written findings in Shabazz's hearings, because genuine factual disputes existed in both of those matters. See Jesinger, 24 F.3d at 1130. Robare declared that Shabazz never asked to call any witnesses, and that as a matter of habit Robare delivers written findings from disciplinary hearings to the affected inmates. 54 The only undisputed fact was Robare's admitted failure to tape record one of the three hearings. Although the district court's Order is unclear, its only factually sustainable basis for ordering summary judgment was a conclusion that Robare's undisputed failure to record the one hearing violated the Constitution, and that, but for the violation, Shabazz would not have suffered the additional days of segregation. In this determination of causation, the district court erred. 55 It is unclear to us how a recording of Shabazz's hearing could have led to a shorter sentence. While such a recording would have facilitated later review of the proceedings for error, its presence or absence would not affect the fact or duration of punishment initially meted out to Shabazz in the way that, for example, a refusal to allow Shabazz to present exculpatory witnesses or testimony might. The district court admitted that causation on this issue was speculative, and we agree. 56 Viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to Robare, as we must, we conclude that the district court erred in finding a sufficient showing of causation. We also conclude that triable issues exist whether Shabazz was prevented from calling witnesses and was not given a statement of reasons for decision. We reverse the summary judgment against Robare and remand for further proceedings on this claim. 57