492
Breyer, J., dissenting
nary incidents of prison life," ante, at 484, concludes that it does not do so. The majority's reasoning, however, particularly when read in light of this Court's precedents, seems to me to lead to the opposite conclusion. And, for that reason, I dissent.
I
The respondent, DeMont Conner, is an inmate at Halawa Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Hawaii. In August 1987, as a result of an altercation with a guard, prison authorities charged Conner with violating several prison disciplinary regulations, including one that prohibited "physical interference . . . resulting in the obstruction . . . of the performance of a correctional function. . . ." Haw. Admin. Rule § 17-201-7 (14) (1983). The prison's "adjustment committee" found Conner "guilty" and imposed a punishment of 30 days of "disciplinary segregation." Eventually, but after Conner had served the 30 days, a review official in the prison set aside the committee's determination, and expunged it from Conner's record.
In the meantime, Conner had brought this "civil rights" action in Federal District Court in Hawaii. See Rev. Stat. § 1979, 42 U. S. C. § 1983. He claimed, among other things, that the adjustment committee's failure to let him call certain witnesses had deprived him of his "liberty . . . without due process of law." U. S. Const., Amdt. 14, § 1. The District Court granted summary judgment for the prison officials. But, the Ninth Circuit agreed with Conner that the committee's punishment had deprived him of procedurally protected "liberty." 15 F. 3d 1463, 1466 (1993). It remanded the case to the District Court to determine whether the refusal to allow Conner to call the particular witnesses denied him of the process he was "due." See Part V, infra.
The issue before this Court is whether Conner's particular punishment amounted to a deprivation of Conner's "liberty" within the meaning of the Due Process Clause.
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