Court Opinion

ID: 9785832
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 22:39:26.255678+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:35.130587
License: Public Domain

THORNE, Judge
(dissenting):
1 22 Moore's appeal raises troubling issues about the due process protections afforded to the many inmates of Utah's jails and prisons. While Moore's individual case may be moot due to his release from administrative segregation, I believe that it falls squarely within the exception to the mootness doctrine recognized for issues that are capable of repetition yet evading review. See State v. M.L.C., 933 P.2d 380, 382 (Utah 1997) ("While we typically refrain from adjudicating moot questions, we recognize an exception to this rule where the alleged wrong is capable of repetition yet evading review." (internal quotation marks omitted)). As such, I believe that we should review the merits of Moore's appeal, and I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion's decision not to do so.
1 23 I agree with the majority's conclusion that Moore's individual case is moot. He has been released from the administrative segregation resulting from his disciplinary proceeding,1 and the hypothetical consequences asserted by Moore do not constitute "adverse collateral consequences" sufficient to avoid mootness, see Duran v. Morris, 635 P.2d 43, 45 (Utah 1981) ("Intraprison administrative decisions such as the one before us entail no collateral legal consequences of the kind that result from a criminal conviction.").2 Nevertheless, I believe that we should review the merits of Moore's claim as presenting an issue that is capable of repetition yet evading review.
4 24 "[Wlhether we reach the merits of a mooted issue in any particular case rests within our discretion." Reynolds v. Reynolds, 788 P.2d 1044, 1046 (Utah Ct.App.1990); see also McRae v. Jackson, 526 P.2d 1190, 1191 (Utah 1974). However, several factors have been identified as bearing on our exer*973cise of that discretion. The Utah Supreme Court has suggested that we ought to consider an issue despite its mootness as to a particular litigant when the issue "is of wide concern, affects the public interest, is likely to recur in a similar manner, and, because of the brief time any one person is affected, would otherwise likely escape judicial review." Duran, 635 P.2d at 46 (internal quotation marks omitted). I believe each of those factors is present in this case.
T25 Although Moore's appeal would be decided in the context of the facts of his particular disciplinary proceeding, the resulting analysis would provide guidance to Utab's many correctional facilities. A substantial number of Utahns reside in Utah's jails and prisons at any given time, and prison rules and regulations necessarily govern every aspect of their lives and living conditions. Moore's appeal seeks to ensure that the basic fairness considerations of due process are available when enforcing the most punitive of these rules and regulations, an issue that is of vital concern to the incarcerated and should be of at least some concern to the public.
T26 Moore argues that the disciplinary proceedings against him, which resulted in nine months of solitary confinement, suffered from numerous and substantial flaws. Specifically, Moore alleges that (1) he had no access to either the substantive or procedural rules governing his imprisonment, (2) he received no notice in advance of the hearing of the specific acts he was alleged to have committed in violation of institutional rules, (8) those actions were not alleged to have violated a specific rule, (4) he had no opportunity to cross-examine or confront witnesses against him, (5) he had no opportunity to call witnesses on his own behalf, and (6) he was denied an opportunity to consult with his retained attorney concerning either the substance or procedure of the hearing. All of these are fully capable of repetition and are all the more likely to be repeated in the absence of guidance from the appellate courts. Notwithstanding Moore's relatively lengthy segregation period, these allegations will avoid appellate review because Moore's administrative detention terminated before the appellate process could examine his case.
127 Each of the factors identified in Duran militates toward examining Moore's claim despite its mootness. Given Moore's allegations and the consequences he has already suffered, I believe that principles of fundamental fairness indicate that review is appropriate. The due process violations asserted by Moore are substantial and are not merely mundane complaints. As a result of his disciplinary proceeding, Moore spent nine months in what amounted to solitary confinement, with significant restrictions on the few freedoms and amenities available to him as an incarcerated person. While neither the gravity of the alleged due process violations nor the severity of Moore's punishment entitles him to a review of his moot claim as a matter of right, they are additional facts that I believe support our discretionary review of that claim.
1 28 For all of these reasons, I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion's refusal to consider Moore's case on its merits. Moore's lengthy administrative segregation period was still not long enough to allow complete-i.e., appellate-judicial review of his disciplinary proceedings. And, in the absence of such review, the alleged deficiencies in those proceedings are likely to recur, if not to Moore personally, then to others similarly situated. Therefore, I would reach the merits of the case as one capable of repetition yet otherwise evading judicial review.

. I note that Moore remained in administrative segregation until he was transferred to the Prison on December 4, 2007. Thus, Moore was still in segregation when he filed his petition, when the district court denied his petition, and even when he initiated this appeal.

. The majority opinion does not appear to foreclose the possibility that Moore could challenge his disciplinary proceeding if, at some point in the future, he does actually suffer collateral consequences therefrom.