Court Opinion

ID: 9580703
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:07:50.365178+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:27.422804
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice TOAL.
I respectfully dissent. In my view, the majority’s holding today ignores the legislative intent expressed by the clear and unambiguous language of S.C.Code Ann. §§ 24-13-210 and - 230. Further, I believe the majority discards our Court’s long-standing “hands-off’ approach to judicial supervision of internal prison disciplinary matters which do not amount to a violation of constitutional dimensions. In adopting its position, the majority has interjected our courts into every prison disciplinary matter which may result in an inmate’s lost opportunity to earn sentence-related credits including a multitude of minor disciplinary infractions which, but for today’s decision, would not otherwise trigger due process protections. Therefore, I would affirm the circuit court’s decision finding that an inmate has no constitutionally significant interest in the loss of the opportunity to earn certain sentence-related credits. However, I would modify the circuit court’s decision to reflect that the ALC has subject matter jurisdiction to review such inmate grievance matters and that the ALC may summarily decide these appeals without a hearing.
Under our statutory law, Furtick does not have any protected liberty interest in the loss of the opportunity to earn sentence-related credits. The United States Constitution does not provide an inmate with a guarantee of sentence-related credit for good behavior while incarcerated. Wolff v. McDon*342nell, 418 U.S. 539, 557, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974). However, in some instances, a state may create a liberty interest which is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 484, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995). A state creates a liberty interest in sentence-related credits only where an inmate has a legitimate expectation of receiving such credits. See Bd. of Pardons v. Allen, 482 U.S. 369, 373, 107 S.Ct. 2415, 96 L.Ed.2d 303 (1987) (citing Greenholtz v. Inmates of Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex, 442 U.S. 1, 11, 99 S.Ct. 2100, 60 L.Ed.2d 668 (1979)). However, a liberty interest in sentence-related credits cannot be predicated on the unilateral expectation or hope to be released before the expiration of one’s term. See Montgomery v. Anderson, 262 F.3d 641, 645 (7th Cir.2001). An inmate may obtain relief for the deprivation of sentence-related credits if he can demonstrate that “the State’s action ... inevitably affect[ed] the duration of his sentence.” Sandin, 515 U.S. at 487, 115 S.Ct. 2293. Generally, an inmate is not entitled to due process protection for State action that may only speculatively affect the duration of his sentence. Id.
S.C.Code Ann. § 24-13-210(A) provides:
A prisoner convicted of an offense against this State, except a “no parole offense” as defined in Section 24-13-100, and sentenced to the custody of the Department of Corrections including a prisoner serving time in a local facility pursuant to a designated facility agreement authorized by Section 24-3-30, whose record of conduct shows that he has faithfully observed all the rules of the institution where he is confined and has not been subjected to punishment for misbehavior, is entitled to a deduction from the term of his sentence beginning with the day on which the service of his sentence commences to run, computed at the rate of twenty days for each month served.
In Busby v. Moore, this Court found that the legislature intended § 24-13-210(A) to reward inmates with good-time credits only after they exhibit good behavior. 330 S.C. 201, 204, 498 S.E.2d 883, 884 (1998), overruled in part on other grounds by Al-Shabazz v. State, 338 S.C. 354, 369, 527 S.E.2d 742, 750 (2000). Additionally, this Court found that a prisoner’s entitlement to good-time credits pursuant to § 24-13-210(A) *343did not vest until the prisoner had served the appropriate amount of time and actually earned the credits. Id. at 204, 498 S.E.2d at 885.
In this case, Furtick was reprimanded for the violation of prison rules. A collateral result of this reprimand was that Furtick was ineligible to earn his good-time credits during the month in which he was reprimanded. Because Furtick did not lose any earned good-time credits as a result of the reprimand, in my view, we cannot say that the reprimand inevitably effected the duration of his sentence.
A myriad of considerations affect whether an inmate is released before the conclusion of the original sentence. In my view, Furtick’s situation is markedly different from the situation where an inmate has already earned good-time credit and, by virtue of some punishment, is required to forfeit that credit. In that case, the inmate no longer possesses merely a unilateral hope of a sentence reduction, but actually possesses a vested right to the good-time credit and reduction in sentence. As we stated in Al-Shabazz, the withholding or forfeiture of earned good-time credit directly implicates a protected liberty interest. 338 S.C. at 370, 527 S.E.2d at 750. In contrast, the loss of the opportunity to earn good-time credit as a result of a prison rule violation does not implicate the same interest.
Because the statute grants inmates good-time credit only after inmates demonstrate good behavior, no inmate is guaranteed or has a vested right in the maximum accrual of good-time credit. Accordingly, I would find that an inmate does not have a legitimate expectation that he will receive good-time credits, but merely possesses only the hope that his behavior and observation of prison rules will be sufficient to entitle him to a reduction in his sentence. Based on the language in § 24-13-210(A) and our previous interpretation of the statute, I would hold that an inmate does not have a protected liberty interest in unearned good-time credits. To hold otherwise would clearly frustrate the purpose and intent of the legislature in enacting the statute.
An analysis of § 24-13-230(A) reveals a similar conclusion. The statute provides:
*344The Director of the Department of Corrections may allow any prisoner in the custody of the department, except a prisoner convicted of a “no parole offense” as defined in Section 24-13-100, who is assigned to a productive duty assignment or who is regularly enrolled and actively participating in an academic, technical, or vocational training program, a reduction from the term of his sentence of zero to one day for every two days he is employed or enrolled. A maximum annual credit for both work credit and education credit is limited to one hundred eighty days.
S.C.Code Ann. § 24-13-230(A).
Like § 24-13-210, I would find that § 24-13-230(A) is clear and unambiguous. In my opinion, the legislature’s use of the word “may” indicates its intention that any reduction in sentence pursuant to § 24-13-230(A) be left to the discretion of DOC. See Carolina Power & Light Co. v. Pageland, 321 S.C. 538, 543, 471 S.E.2d 137, 140 (1996) (holding that when a statute’s terms are clear and unambiguous on their face, there is no room for statutory construction and a court must apply the statute according to its literal meaning). Stated differently, there is no mandatory requirement that any inmate receive a reduction in sentence under this statute. In fact, despite an inmate’s participation in the programs outlined in the statute, DOC has the discretion to award no sentence reduction at all. Accordingly, I believe that any sentence reduction allowed pursuant to § 24-13-230(A) is not an unfulfilled entitlement, but is completely discretionary. See Skipper v. South Carolina Dept. of Corrections, 370 S.C. 267, 633 S.E.2d 910 (Ct.App.2006). Because an inmate is not entitled to earn credit at a particular level, in my view, an inmate has no protected liberty interest in maintaining a specific work credit level for sentence reduction purposes. Cf. Altizer v. Paderick, 569 F.2d 812, 813 (4th Cir.1978) (finding that classifications and work assignments are discretionary matters for prison administration and “to hold that they are ‘within reach of the procedural protections of the'Due Process Clause would place the Clause astride the day-to-day functioning of state prisons and involve the judiciary in issues and discretionary decisions that are not the business’ ” of the judiciary) (internal citations omitted).
*345Therefore, I would hold that the circuit court did not err in finding no implication of protected liberty interests in the loss of the opportunity to earn sentence-related credits pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. §§ 24-13-210 and -230.
Finally, while I agree with the majority that the circuit court erred in holding that the ALC lacked subject matter jurisdiction, I would find that no hearing was required under these circumstances. Pursuant to this Court’s decision in Slezak v. South Carolina Dept. of Corrections, 361 S.C. 327, 331, 605 S.E.2d 506, 508 (2004), the ALC has jurisdiction over all properly perfected inmate appeals. However, the ALC may summarily decide those appeals that do not implicate an inmate’s liberty or property interest and decline to hold a hearing. Id.
DOC does not dispute that Furtiek has properly perfected his appeal. Therefore, in my view, the ALC erred in dismissing Furtick’s case on the basis of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See State v. Gentry, 363 S.C. 93, 100, 610 S.E.2d 494, 499 (2005) (noting that subject matter jurisdiction is the power of a court to hear and determine cases of the general class to which the proceedings in question belong). Because I would find that Furtiek has no protected liberty interest in unearned sentence-related credits pursuant to S.C.Code Ann. §§ 24-13-210(A) and -230(A), I believe the ALC may have summarily decided his appeal without a hearing. Therefore, I would hold that the ALC’s improper dismissal of Furtick’s claim constitutes harmless error.
The federal courts have recognized that, for many prisoners, prolific litigation is a costless pastime. With today’s decision, this Court unnecessarily throws open the door to judicial review of most any conceivable prison administrative matter virtually assuring this pastime will rapidly become all the more treasured.
Thus, with the modification described above, I would affirm the circuit court’s decision.