Court Opinion

ID: 9764105
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:10:24.473511+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:53.612863
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Judge Craig:
The procedures established for misconduct appeals require review by the program review committee (PRC), then by the superintendent of the prison, and finally by the Central Office Review Committee (CORC). BC-ADM 801.
Although the majority opinion here acknowledges that the petitioner is appealing the denial of his appeal by CORC, it relies on our decision in Robson v. Biester, 53 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 587, 420 A.2d 9 (1980) for the proposition that CORC is not an administrative agency rendering final, appealable orders. In Robson, the petitioner had only completed the first step in the appeal process, review by the the PRC. Id. at 589, 420 A.2d at 11. Accordingly, the court held that the decision by the intra-prison disciplinary tribunal, the PRC, was not a final adjudication by an administrative agency.
By contrast, CORC is an inter-prison tribunal. CORC hears appeals from all state prisons throughout the Commonwealth. The members of CORC are the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Chief Counsel or their designees. BC-ADM 804IX D. Accordingly, CORC is an administrative agency rendering final appealable orders.
Moreover, the petition for review in this case was timely filed. Had the petitioner appealed from the first decision of CORC, the petition would have been dismissed as premature because the order clearly indicated that further proceedings were to take place. See e.g. Murhon v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board, 51 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 214, 414 A.2d 161 (1980).
Where, as here, a timely petition for review is filed from a final decision of CORC, this court must review the *677agency decision for compliance with the due process procedures required by the United States Supreme Court in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974). In Wolff the Court held that an inmate is entitled to due process before prison officials may revoke good time credits or impose disciplinary confinement for serious misconduct. Minimum procedural safeguards are required “as a hedge against arbitrary determination of the factual predicate for imposition of the sanction.” Id. at 571 n.19. Petitioner in this case alleges that allowing prison authorities to rewrite misconduct charges violates Wolff. Rewriting charges after the inmate has successully appealed and had the finding of guilt vacated allows prison authorities to tailor the new charges to the evidence already adduced, insuring a finding of guilt. Such a practice allows the “arbitrary determination of the factual predicate for imposition of the sanction,” and therefore, violates due process.
Therefore, because the petitioner has identified facts from which the court can conclude that the procedures required by Wolff may have been violated, I would deny the motion to quash.