Court Opinion

ID: 9429002
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:25:25.765001+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:16.744240
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
with whom Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall join, and with whom Justice Black-mun joins as to Parts II and III,
dissenting.
When respondent Helms was transferred to “administrative segregation,” he was placed in solitary confinement in B-Block at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. The conditions in B-Block are significantly more restrictive than those experienced by inmates in the general prison population.1 Indeed, in all material respects *480conditions in administrative custody are the same as those in disciplinary segregation.2 The reasons for placing one inmate in administrative and another in punitive segregation may be different, and the periods of confinement may vary, but the Court properly assumes for purposes of this case that “the conditions in the two types of confinement are substantially identical.” Ante, at 463, n. 1.
None of the three substantive charges against respondent Helms has ever been substantiated in a valid manner.3 *481Nevertheless, he was held in “administrative segregation” for over seven weeks&emdash;from the evening of December 3, 1978, until January 22, 1979&emdash;before he received an eviden-tiary hearing, and he was then sentenced to six months in “disciplinary custody.” Despite the severity of conditions in solitary confinement, and the admitted differences between segregated custody and the general prison population, petitioners urge us to hold that the transfer of an inmate into administrative segregation does not deprive him of any interest in liberty protected by the Due Process Clause. The Court correctly rejects this contention today. It does so, however, for reasons that do not withstand analysis. It then concludes that the procedures afforded by prison authorities in this case “plainly satisfied the due process requirements for continued confinement of Helms pending the outcome of the investigation.” Ante, at 477. I cannot agree.
I
The principal contention advanced by petitioners in this Court is that the Federal Constitution imposes no procedural limitations on the absolute discretion of prison officials to place any inmate in administrative segregation and to keep him there, if they choose, for the entire period of his confinement.4 Petitioners argue that a transfer into solitary confinement is merely one example of various routine decisions *482made on a day-to-day basis by prison authorities, regarding “place of confinement, both as to which facility is appropriate and within the appropriate facility which cell block or housing unit is appropriate; his job assignment; the potential for freedom of movement; and the possibility and variety of educational and vocational opportunities available to him.” Brief for Petitioners 11-12. According to petitioners, operational decisions such as these do not raise any constitutional question because prison officials need wide latitude to operate their institutions in a safe and efficient manner.
The Court properly rejects the contention that the Due Process Clause is simply inapplicable to transfers of inmates into administrative segregation. It holds that respondent’s transfer from the general population into administrative confinement was a deprivation of liberty that must be accompanied by due process of law. The majority’s reasoning in support of this conclusion suffers, however, from a fundamental flaw. In its view, a “liberty interest” exists only because Pennsylvania’s written prison regulations5 display a magical combination of “substantive predicates” and “explicitly mandatory language.” Ante, at 472. This analysis attaches no significance either to the character of the conditions of confinement or to actual administrative practices in the institution. Moreover, the Court seems to assume that after his conviction a prisoner has, in essence, no liberty save that created, in writing, by the State which imprisons him. Under this view a prisoner crosses into limbo when he enters into penal confinement. He might have some minimal freedoms if the State chooses to bestow them; but such freedom as he has today may be taken away tomorrow.
This approach, although consistent with some of the Court’s recent cases,6 is dramatically different from the anal*483ysis in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U. S. 539 (1974). In Wolff the Court squarely held that every prisoner retains a significant residuum of constitutionally protected liberty following his incarceration. Though the prisoner’s “rights may be diminished by the needs and exigencies of the institutional environment, a prisoner is not wholly stripped of constitutional protections when he is imprisoned for crime. There is no iron curtain drawn between the Constitution and the prisons of this country. . . . [Prisoners] may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” Id., at 555-556.
The source of the liberty recognized in Wolff is not state law, nor even the Constitution itself. Rather, it is plain that
“neither the Bill of Rights nor the laws of sovereign States create the liberty which the Due Process Clause protects. The relevant constitutional provisions are limitations on the power of the sovereign to infringe on the liberty of the citizen .... Of course, law is essential to the exercise and enjoyment of individual liberty in a complex society. But it is not the source of liberty, and surely not the exclusive source.
“I had thought it self-evident that all men were endowed by their Creator with liberty as one of the cardinal unalienable rights. It is that basic freedom which the Due Process Clause protects, rather than the particular rights or privileges conferred by specific laws or regulations.” Meachum v. Fano, 427 U. S. 215, 230 (1976) (Stevens, J., dissenting).7
*484Identifying the “liberty” that survives in a closely controlled prison environment is understandably more difficult than in the world at large. For it is obvious that “[ljawful imprisonment necessarily makes unavailable many rights and privileges of the ordinary citizen, a ‘retraction justified by the considerations underlying our penal system.’” Wolff, supra, at 555, quoting Price v. Johnston, 334 U. S. 266, 285 (1948). But I remain convinced that an inmate “has a protected right to pursue his limited rehabilitative goals, or at the minimum, to maintain whatever attributes of dignity are associated with his status in a tightly controlled society. It is unquestionably within the power of the State to change that status, abruptly and adversely; but if the change is sufficiently grievous, it may not be imposed arbitrarily. In such case due process must be afforded.” Meachum, supra, at 234 (Stevens, J., dissenting). Thus, the relevant question in this case is whether transfer into administrative segregation constitutes a “sufficiently grievous” change in a prisoner’s status to require the protection of “due process.” See Vitek v. Jones, 445 U. S. 480, 492 (1980), quoting Miller v. Vitek, 437 F. Supp. 569, 573 (Neb. 1977); Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U. S. 471, 481 (1972), quoting Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath, 341 U. S. 123, 168 (1951) (Frankfurter, J., concurring).
In answering this question it is useful to consider the residuum of liberty that the ordinary citizen enjoys in any organized society. All general laws — whether designed to protect the health of the community, to control urban traffic, to improve the environment, or to raise tax revenues — curtail the individual’s freedom to do as he pleases. Thus the residuum of liberty is far removed from a license to gratify every whim without restraint. It is more akin to the characteristic of “independence,” which played a special role in our early history. Consider Professor Dworkin’s discussion of this term:
*485“Mill saw independence as a further dimension of equality; he argued that an individual’s independence is threatened, not simply by a political process that denies him equal voice, but by political decisions that deny him equal respect. Laws that recognize and protect common interests, like laws against violence and monopoly, offer no insult to any class or individual; but laws that constrain one man, on the sole ground that he is incompetent to decide what is right for himself, are profoundly insulting to him. They make him intellectually and morally subservient to the conformists who form the majority, and deny him the independence to which he is entitled. Mill insisted on the political importance of these moral concepts of dignity, personality, and insult. It was these complex ideas, not the simpler idea of license, that he tried to make available for political theory . . . .” R. Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously 263 (1977).
Ordinarily the mere fact that the existence of a general regulation may significantly impair individual liberty raises no question under the Due Process Clause.8 But the Clause is implicated when the State singles out one person for adverse treatment significantly different from that imposed on the community at large. For an essential attribute of the liberty protected by the Constitution is the right to the same kind of treatment as the State provides to other similarly situated persons.9 A convicted felon, though he is *486properly placed in a disfavored class, retains this essential right.10
Thus, for a prisoner as for other persons, the grievousness of any claimed deprivation of liberty is, in part, a relative matter: one must compare the treatment of the particular prisoner with the customary, habitual treatment of the population of the prison as a whole. In general, if a prisoner complains of an adverse change in conditions which he shares with an entire class of his fellow prisoners as part of the day-to-day operations of the prison, there would be no reason to find that he has been deprived of his constitutionally protected liberty.11 But if a prisoner is singled out for disparate treatment and if the disparity is sufficiently severe, his liberty is at stake.12
*487In this case, by definition, the institutional norm is confinement in the “general prison population.”13 The deprivation of which respondent complains is transfer to “administrative segregation” — that is, solitary confinement — which by its nature singles out individual prisoners. That confinement was not specified by the terms of his initial criminal sentence. Not only is there a disparity, the disparity is drastic.14 It is concededly as serious as the difference between confinement in the general prison population and “disciplinary segregation.” See supra, at 479-480, and n. 2. As the District Court wrote in Wright v. Enomoto, 462 F. Supp. 397, 402 (ND Cal. 1976), summarily aff’d, 434 U. S. 1052 (1978): *488“When a prisoner is transferred from the general prison population to the grossly more onerous conditions of maximum security, be it for disciplinary or for administrative reasons, there is severe impairment of the residuum of liberty which he retains as a prisoner — an impairment which triggers the requirement for due process safeguards.”15
In this case, the Court’s exclusive focus on written regulations happens to lead it to the conclusion that there is a “liberty interest.” I agree that the regulations are relevant: by limiting the substantive reasons for a transfer to administrative segregation and by establishing prescribed procedures, these regulations indicate that the State recognizes the substantiality of the deprivation. They therefore provide evidentiary support for the conclusion that the transfer affects a constitutionally protected interest in liberty. But the regulations do not create that interest. Even in their absence due process safeguards would be required when an inmate’s liberty is further curtailed by a transfer into administrative custody that is the functional equivalent of punitive isolation.
II
The “touchstone of due process,” as we pointed out in Wolff v. McDonnell, is “protection of the individual against arbitrary action of government.” 418 U. S., at 558. Pennsylvania may not arbitrarily place a prisoner in administrative segregation. Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U. S. 5, 9 (1980). The majority agrees with this general proposition, but I believe its standards guarding against arbitrariness fall short of what the Constitution requires.
*489First, the majority declares that the Constitution is satisfied by an initial proceeding16 with minimal participation by the inmate who is being transferred into administrative custody. According to the Court: “An inmate must merely receive some notice of the charges against him and an opportunity to present his views to the prison official charged with deciding whether to transfer him to administrative segregation. Ordinarily a written statement by the inmate will accomplish this purpose, although prison administrators may find it more useful to permit oral presentations in cases where they believe a written statement would be ineffective.” Ante, at 476. Applying this standard, it declares that the proceeding on December 8, 1979, “plainly satisfied the due process requirements for continued confinement of Helms pending the outcome of the investigation,” ante, at 477, even though the record does not clearly show whether respondent was present at the Hearing Committee review.
I agree with the Court that the Constitution does not require a hearing with all of the procedural safeguards set forth in Wolff v. McDonnell when prison officials initially decide to segregate an inmate to safeguard institutional security or to *490conduct an investigation of an unresolved misconduct charge. But unlike the majority, I believe that due process does require that the inmate be given the opportunity to present his views in person to the reviewing officials. As many prisoners have little education, limiting an inmate to a written statement is unlikely to provide a “meaningful opportunity to be heard” in accordance with due process principles. See Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U. S. 254, 267-269 (1970).17
Of greater importance, the majority’s due process analysis fails to provide adequate protection against arbitrary continuation of an inmate’s solitary confinement.18 The opinion recognizes that “[p]rison officials must engage in some sort of periodic review of the confinement of such inmates.” Ante, at 477, n. 9. It thus recognizes that the deprivation of liberty in the prison setting is a continuous process rather than an isolated event.19 But the Court requires only minimal re*491view procedures; prison officials need not permit the submission of any additional evidence or statements and need not give the inmate a chance to present his position. It is constitutionally sufficient, according to the majority, that administrative segregation not be a pretext for indefinite confinement. In my view, the Due Process Clause requires a more searching review of the justifiability of continued confinement.
The Court relies on two major justifications for respondent’s transfer into solitary confinement: institutional security and the pendency of investigations into respondent’s behavior on December 3, 1978. Each of these justifications may serve important governmental interests. See Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U. S., at 13, n. 12. But it cannot fairly be assumed that either rationale, though it might initially be adequate, remains valid or sufficient indefinitely.20 Nor can it *492fairly be assumed that prison officials can properly judge the continued existence of either rationale without gathering fresh information and allowing the inmate to state his own case in person.
The majority assumes that the facts needed to decide whether a particular prisoner remains a security risk “will have been ascertained when determining to confine the inmate to administrative segregation.” Ante, at 477, n. 9. This assertion simply ignores the passage of time. Even if Helms was a threat to safety on December 8, 1978, it cannot be taken for granted that he was still a threat to safety on January 8, 1979 — or that, if there had been no hearing on January 22, he would still have been a threat to safety a year later. Conditions — including Helms’ own attitudes, the attitudes of other prisoners toward him and toward each other, and the disruptions caused by the riot — simply do not remain static.
The majority acknowledges that periodic reviews should consider “the progress of the investigation.” But it gives no guidance on the significance of this factor. In my view, the mere notation on a record, “there is an ongoing investigation,” should not automatically validate the continuation of solitary confinement. As the Court held in Hughes v. Rowe, supra, the Due Process Clause does not countenance “automatic investigative segregation of all inmate suspects.” Id., at 13, n. 12.21 Investigations take varying forms. An active *493investigation involving pursuit of leads among prisoners may justify continued segregation of the suspected inmate, in order to protect potential witnesses from intimidation or influence. But segregation might not be proper if the investigative file is merely being kept open in the hope that something else might turn up.22 In such event there is a possibility that a prisoner might be kept in segregation simply because prison officials believe that he should be punished, even though there is insufficient evidence to support a misconduct charge at a disciplinary hearing.23 The lengthier the period of administrative detention, the more likely it may be that “investigation” is merely a pretext. Therefore, due process demands periodic reviews that have genuine substance — not mere paper-shuffling.24
*494At each periodic review, I believe due process requires that the prisoner be allowed to make an oral statement about the need for and the consequences of continued confinement. Concededly some of the information relevant to a decision whether to continue confinement will be beyond the reach of a prisoner who has been held in segregated custody, including conditions in the general prison population and the progress of an ongoing investigation. But the prisoner should have the right to be present in order to explain his current attitude toward his past activities and his present circumstances, and the impact of solitary confinement on his rehabilitation program and training.25 These factors may change as the period of confinement continues.
Further, if the decisionmaker decides to retain the prisoner in segregation, I believe he should be required to explain his reasons in a brief written statement which is retained in the file and given to the prisoner. As Justice Marshall has written in a related prison context, this requirement would direct the decisionmaker’s focus “to the relevant . . . criteria and promote more careful consideration of the evidence. It would also enable inmates to detect and correct inaccuracies that could have a decisive impact. And the obligation to justify a decision publicly would provide the *495assurance, critical to the appearance of fairness, that the Board’s decision is not capricious.” Greenholtz v. Nebraska Penal Inmates, 442 U. S. 1, 38-41 (1979) (dissenting in part) (footnote omitted). A written statement of reasons would facilitate administrative and judicial review26 and might give the prisoner an opportunity to improve his conduct.
Neither a right to personal appearance by the prisoner nor a requirement of written reasons would impose an undue burden on prison officials. It is noteworthy that these procedural safeguards are provided in regulations governing both the Pennsylvania and federal prison systems.27 Given the *496importance of the prisoner’s interest in returning to the general prison population, the benefits of additional procedural safeguards, and the minimal burden on prison officials, I am convinced that the Due Process Clause requires more substantial periodic reviews than the majority acknowledges.
HH t — I
Unfortunately, today’s majority opinion locates the due process floor at a level below existing procedures in Pennsylvania. The Court reverses the judgment of the Court of Appeals, and thus endorses the District Court’s summary judgment in favor of petitioners. In my view, summary judgment is inappropriate because at least three issues of material fact remain unresolved. First, there has been no finding whether Helms had a constitutionally adequate opportunity to present his views at the initial proceeding on December 8, 1978. As the Court today acknowledges, it is not entirely clear from the record whether respondent appeared in person before the Hearing Committee on December 8. Ante, at 464-465. Second, the record does not ade*497quately disclose the reasons for respondent’s prolonged confinement.28 Finally, it is by no means clear that the subsequent review proceedings, including Helms’ appearance before the Program Review Committee on January 2, 1979, satisfied the mandates of the Due Process Clause. I therefore respectfully dissent.

 In an uneontroverted affidavit, respondent Helms described those conditions as follows:
“While confined in segregation I had no access to vocational, educational, recreational, and rehabilitative programs as I would have had while out in the general population. Exercise was limited to between five and ten minutes a day and was often only three or four days a week. Showers *480were virtually nonexistent in segregation in December and January. The changing of clothes was also only once or twice a week while I could have changed more often in population. Had I been in general population I would have had access to various exercise facilities such as the gym and the yard and would have been able to do this for most of the time out of my cell which would have been approximately 14 hours a day. While in segregation I only got out of my cell a few minutes for exercise, showers and an occasional visit. I was virtually confined there 24 hours a day otherwise.” App. 35a.
The State has not challenged the factual accuracy of this description.

 Compare 37 Pa. Code §95.106(1) and §95.106(2) (1978) (virtually identical language in regulations describing administrative custody and disciplinary custody); see also Tr. of Oral Arg. 9-10 (Attorney General’s response to question).
Indeed, the record shows that, because of the large number of prisoners placed in administrative custody after the December 3,1978, riot, some individuals including Helms “were placed in an area otherwise designated as disciplinary custody close. The physical attributes of these cells are similar to those of administrative custody . . . .” Affidavit submitted by Dennis R. Erhard, Deputy Superintendent for Treatment at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, in support of defendants’ motion to dismiss or for summary judgment. App. 12a. Mr. Erhard served as a member of the Program Review Committee. See also id., at 14a (record of the January 2, 1979, review proceeding, describing Helms’ location as Disciplinary Custody Close); id., at 16a (affidavit by another member of the Program Review Committee stating that Helms was “in an area designated as disciplinary custody” even though it was not a disciplinary placement).

 The state criminal charges filed on December 11, 1978, were voluntarily abandoned at the preliminary hearing on February 6, 1979. The first misconduct charge of assaulting a correctional officer, filed on Decern-*481ber 4, 1978, was never sustained. Id., at 31a. In addition, the second misconduct charge of assaulting a different correctional officer, filed on January 19, 1979, must be regarded as still unproved. The Court of Appeals held that due process was violated at the January 22, 1979, hearing that found respondent guilty of the second misconduct, because the finding was supported only by uncorroborated hearsay testimony&emdash;“literally, next to no evidence.” 655 F. 2d 487, 502 (CA3 1981). Petitioners have not challenged that holding. Brief for Petitioners 7, n. 6.

 Tr. of Oral Arg. 17. There is no contention in this case that conditions in administrative segregation at Huntingdon violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments. If such a violation existed, the Constitution would impose substantive rather than procedural limits on transfers into segregated status.

 These regulations were issued in compliance with a consent decree in federal-court litigation. Imprisoned Citizens Union v. Shapp, C. A. 70-3054 (ED Pa., May 22, 1978). See 8 Pa. Bull. 2682 (1978).

 See Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U. S. 458, 463-467 (1981); Greenholtz v. Nebraska Penal Inmates, 442 U. S. 1, 11-12 *483(1979); Meachum v. Fano, 427 U. S. 215, 225-228 (1976); Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U. S. 236, 243 (1976). Although I believe these cases were erroneously decided, I am also persuaded that they do not control the present case. None of them dealt with transfers into solitary confinement. See Meachum, supra, at 222; Montanye, supra, at 238.

 See United States ex rel. Miller v. Twomey, 479 F. 2d 701, 712-713 (CA7 1973) (Stevens, J.) (footnote omitted) (“The restraints and the punishment which a criminal conviction entails do not place the citizen beyond the ethical tradition that accords respect to the dignity and intrinsic worth of every individual. ‘Liberty’ and ‘custody’ are not mutually exclusive *484concepts”), cert. denied sub nom. Gutierrez v. Department of Public Safety of Illinois, 414 U. S. 1146 (1974).

 There are, of course, particular liberties that have constitutional status in their own right, such as freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion, whose deprivation by a State on a classwide as well as an individual basis may violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

 “Liberty under law extends to the full range of conduct which the individual is free to pursue, and it cannot be restricted except for a proper governmental objective.” Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U. S. 497, 499-500 (1954).
“While this Court has not attempted to define with exactness the liberty . . . guaranteed [by the Fourteenth Amendment], the term has received much consideration and some of the included things have been definitely stated. Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of *486the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized ... as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U. S. 390, 399 (1923), quoted in Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U. S. 564, 572 (1972).

 See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U. S. 539, 556 (1974); cf. Lee v. Washington, 390 U. S. 333 (1968) (statutes requiring racial segregation in prisons and jails violate Fourteenth Amendment).

 This category would include some if not all of the day-to-day decisions listed by the petitioners, see Brief for Petitioners 11-12. When an entire class is affected by a change, individual prisoners are neither more acutely affected by it than other members of their class nor uniquely able to bring personal knowledge to bear on the appropriateness of its implementation. Therefore the reasons for the due process requirement of some kind of hearing are absent. There may, of course, be other constitutional issues, such as the Eighth Amendment’s proscription of cruel and unusual punishments, or the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom.

 Although I disagree with the Court’s assumption that the State “creates” a prisoner’s interest in liberty, I recognize, of course, that the State does have the power to limit the scope of the liberty that remains after incarceration. Just as it may impose either a long or a short term of confinement, so may it establish more or less severe conditions of confinement. Whether by formal written guidelines or by consistent unwritten practice, the State establishes the base line of how it customarily treats the *487prison population. In my opinion, it does not matter whether the State uses a particular form of words in its laws or regulations, or indeed whether it has adopted written rules at all.
Hence, as we noted in Wolff, the State is not required to allow prisoners good-time credits. But if it establishes such a system, it may not arbitrarily deprive a prisoner of these credits on the ground that the prisoner has engaged in serious misbehavior, unless its procedures for so doing are constitutionally adequate. Wolff, supra, at 556-557. Similarly, an offender has a liberty interest in parole release or probation “derived solely from the existence of a system that permits criminal offenders to serve their sentences on probation or parole.” Greenholtz, 442 U. S., at 24-25 (MARSHALL, J., dissenting in part); see id., at 30-31. Due process must be satisfied when a prisoner is singled out and denied parole. See also Connecticut Board of Pardons v. Dumschat, 452 U. S., at 471, and n. 5 (Stevens, J., dissenting) (when 75% of all life inmates receive commutation of life sentence, each life inmate has a liberty interest in commutation).

 See Brief for Respondent 32-34 (briefly setting forth history of penitentiaries; initially solitary confinement was the norm, but gradually authorities realized the advantages of the congregated system).

 The Commonwealth’s own prison regulations make clear how substantial the disparity is. Title 37 Pa. Code § 95.107(a)(2) (1978) provides: “The inmates therein shall have all the rights and privileges accorded to the general population except for freedom to move about the institution, freedom to engage in programs with the general population, the use of civilian clothing, the use of items specifically found by the Program Review Committee to be a security hazard . . . .”

 See Wolff, supra, at 571-572, n. 19 (due process applies to transfer to solitary confinement for major misconduct because it “represents a major change in the conditions of confinement”); cf. Montanye v. Haymes, 427 U. S., at 242 (question is whether the conditions or degree of confinement to which the prisoner is subjected is “within the sentence imposed upon him”).

 The Court of Appeals recognized that, in the emergency conditions on December 3, 1978, prison officials were justified in placing respondent in administrative segregation without a hearing. Respondent does not contend otherwise. The Due Process Clause allows prison officials flexibility to cope with emergencies. But petitioners acknowledge that the disturbance was “quelled” the same day, Brief for Petitioners 3, and that, within a day or two after the December 3,1978, prison riot, conditions had returned completely to normal. See App. 55a-56a, 68a. At that point the emergency rationale for administrative segregation without a hearing had expired. The Due Process Clause then required a prompt proceeding to determine whether continued administrative segregation was justified. Cf. Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U. S. 5, 11 (1980) (“Segregation of a prisoner without a prior hearing may violate due process if the postponement of procedural protections is not justified by apprehended emergency conditions”). Yet Helms was not accorded any procedural safeguards whatsoever until five days after the riot — another violation of his due process rights.

 Indeed, petitioners do not contend that a face-to-face presentation by the inmate would be unduly burdensome. Their brief cites Goss v. Lopez, 419 U. S. 565 (1975), as a model of appropriate procedure, noting that there the Court did not require an “elaborate hearing” before a neutral party, “but simply ‘an informal give-and-take between student and disciplinarian’ which gives the student ‘an opportunity to explain his version of the facts.’” Brief for Petitioners 27-28, quoting Ingraham v. Wright, 480 U. S. 651, 693 (1977) (White, J., dissenting).

 Unlike disciplinary custody, which is imposed for a fixed term, in practice administrative custody sometimes continues for lengthy or indefinite periods. See Ruiz v. Estelle, 503 F. Supp. 1265, 1365, 1367 (SD Tex. 1980) (“months or even years”); Mims v. Shapp, 457 F. Supp. 247, 249 (WD Pa. 1978) (five years); United States ex rel. Hoss v. Cuyler, 452 F. Supp. 256 (ED Pa. 1978) (more than five years); Wright v. Enomoto, 462 F. Supp. 397, 403-404 (ND Cal. 1976) (various instances up to a year).

 As the Eighth Circuit wrote in 1975:
“Conditions in prisons change as they do everywhere else, and a reason for administrative segregation of an inmate that is valid today may not necessarily be valid six months or a year in the future.
“Since there must be a valid and subsisting reason for holding an inmate in segregation, we agree with the district court that where an inmate is held in segregation for a prolonged or indefinite period of time due process requires that his situation should be reviewed periodically in a meaningful *491way and by relevant standards to determine whether he should be retained in segregation or returned to population.” Kelly v. Brewer, 525 F. 2d 394, 400 (CA8 1975).
Accord, Drayton v. Robinson, 519 F. Supp. 545, 551-552 (MD Pa. 1981); Ruiz v. Estelle, supra, at 1366; United States ex rel. Hoss v. Cuyler, supra, at 290-291.
See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 30: “Since the imposition of administrative segregation generally is a response to a particular confluence of circumstances occurring in a prison at a given time, fairness and effectiveness would seem to be best served by reassessments of the situation at regular intervals to assure that an inmate is released from the restrictive confinement as soon as the ‘reasons for placement cease to exist.’ ”

 Some of the provisions of Pennsylvania’s own regulations appear to recognize that the investigative rationale does not support indefinite solitary confinement. When a prisoner is confined as a result of a general institutional disturbance or incident, because officials determine that there is a threat of a serious disturbance or a serious threat to the individual or others, the regulations provide: “An investigation shall begin immediately to determine whether or not a behavior violation has occurred. If no behavior violation has occurred, the inmate must be released as soon as the reason for the security concern has abated but in all cases within ten days.” 37 Pa. Code § 95.104(b)(3) (1978). When a prisoner is placed in administrative custody pending investigation by the state police, Administrative *492Directive BC-ADM 004, § IV(B)(1) (1975) requires that a hearing “will be carried out after the investigation period. Such hearing shall be held within four (4) days unless the investigation warrants delay and in that case as soon as possible.” When a prisoner is confined pending a hearing on a misconduct charge, the inmate shall be informed in writing of the charge and “given a specific date for a hearing which shall be held no less than 24 hours after receipt of this notice but within six days.” 37 Pa. Code § 95.103(d)(1) (1978).

 The record in Hughes v. Rowe did not show that petitioner’s segregation was based on specific “investigative concerns [that] might, in particular cases, justify prehearing segregation.” 449 U. S., at 13, n. 12. We *493therefore reversed the lower court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim and remanded for further factfinding proceedings.

 In an affidavit, Lt. Buddy B. Kyler, who prepared the January 18, 1979, misconduct charge, stated that, by January 4, 1979, he had received the notarized statement from an inmate informant which was the sole evidence against respondent at the hearing 18 days later. He did not write a misconduct report at the time, because he was awaiting the preliminary hearing on the pending state criminal charges. “In addition, more information could have come to light at the preliminary hearing revealing additional acts of assault or institutional misconduct by plaintiff which should be handled at a single administrative hearing.” On January 18, he wrote a misconduct report because an Assistant Attorney General recommended that administrative proceedings be completed even though the preliminary hearing had not taken place. App. 82a-84a (affidavit submitted in support of defendants’ motion for summary judgment). It is not at all self-evident that this delay was justified.

 Cf. Wright v. Enomoto, 462 F. Supp., at 400-401. The plaintiffs had been placed in administrative solitary confinement for a variety of reasons, including “becoming too militant” and spending too much time in the yard with other Black Muslims, being an influential member of the Mexican prison community and having “leadership qualities,” and being “suspected of being a leader in Nuestra Familia.”

 Moreover, once investigation has been completed, the pending misconduct charge should be promptly adjudicated. Cf. Moody v. Daggett, 429 U. S. 78, 91-92 (1976) (Stevens, J., dissenting) (constitutional right to a *494fair hearing on parole revocation includes the right to a prompt hearing; due process is violated by putting a person under the cloud of an unresolved charge for an indeterminate period).

 In addition to worsening his conditions of confinement, respondent alleged that detention in solitary confinement might indirectly affect his parole opportunities by depriving him of the opportunity to participate in rehabilitation programs. Brief for Respondent 48, n. 35; App. 35a; see Brief for State Bar of Michigan, Prisons and Corrections Committee, as Amicus Curiae 11 (prisoner in extended administrative segregation loses his assigned general population cell and work or program assignments). Petitioners do not directly answer this assertion, but generally state that administrative custody has no effect on parole or prerelease status. Tr. of Oral Arg. 10.

 The Pennsylvania regulations provide for administrative review, upon the inmate’s request, of transfers into segregated confinement, 37 Pa. Code §§ 95.103(g)(2), 95.103(h) (1978); see also App. 31a, 41a (notification to Helms of Hearing Committee actions, informing him of opportunity to seek review). In addition, petitioners’ brief states that “arbitrary action by prison officials is violative of substantive due process and, therefore, subject to full judicial review.” Brief for Petitioners 17.

 Title 37 Pa. Code § 95.103(g)(4) (1978) requires that a Program Review Committee, composed of the Deputy Superintendent for Operations, the Deputy Superintendent for Treatment Services, and the Classification and Treatment Supervisor, must
“interview in person at least once every 30 days, those inmates detained in Administrative Custody or Disciplinary Custody. The determination of whether continued confinement is warranted will be based upon a review of the counselor’s notes and recommendations, psychological and psychiatric reports when available, recommendations by other staff and their written observations regarding his attitudes and actions, and his attitude and actions during the interview. . . . When the Program Review Committee determines that continued confinement is warranted, the inmate shall be given a written statement of the decision and its rationale.”
In addition, the regulations mandate a weekly status review of each inmate in restrictive custody, to determine whether continuation of such custody is appropriate and necessary. The prisoner is not present at these weekly reviews, which are based on the notes and recommendations of the counselor and other entries in the inmate’s record. §95.103(g)(3). Finally, every 30 days the Superintendent is required personally to review *496the case of each inmate separated from the general population for 30 days or more, and he must retain a written report of his findings in each such case. § 95.107(f).
The federal prison system appears to follow similar periodic review procedures. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 29-30:
“After an inmate's first in-person review, he is afforded a record review (at which he does not appear) every seven days and further in-person reviews at least every 30 days. In connection with each of the 30-day in-person reviews, the staff conducts a psychiatric or psychological assessment of the inmate, which is submitted to the reviewing authority in a written report ‘addressing] the inmate’s adjustment to his surroundings and the threat the inmate poses to self, staff and other inmates.’” 28 CFR § 541.20(c) (1982).
According to the Federal Government’s brief, the inmate has a right to make a statement at his in-person review disputing the grounds for continued confinement in administrative detention, and he receives a written copy of the staff’s decision and its reasons. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 29-30.

 The written record of the Program Review Committee’s decision, App. 13a-14a, does not specifically discuss the progress of the investigation or the need for continuing administrative segregation; it merely states that restrictive custody should continue “until more information is received regarding his involvement in the December 3rd incident.”