Cite as: 515 U. S. 472 (1995)
Breyer, J., dissenting
Part III, supra, will lead federal courts to intervene improperly (as the majority sees it) "in the day-to-day management of prisons, often squandering judicial resources with little offsetting benefit to anyone." Ante, at 482. For one thing, the "process" that is "due" in the context of prison discipline is not the full blown procedure that accompanies criminal trials. Rather, "due process" itself is a flexible concept, which, in the context of a prison, must take account of the legitimate needs of prison administration when deciding what procedural elements basic considerations of fairness require. See, e. g., Goss v. Lopez, 419 U. S., at 578 (the " 'very nature of due process negates any concept of inflexible procedures universally applicable to every imaginable situation' ") (quoting Cafeteria & Restaurant Workers v. McElroy, 367 U. S. 886, 895 (1961)); Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 334 (1976) (" '[D]ue process is flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands' ") (quoting Morrissey v. Brewer, supra, at 481); Friendly, "Some Kind of Hearing," 123 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1267, 1278 (1975) ("required degree of procedural safeguards varies"); Wolff, 418 U. S., at 563-567 (requiring—in addition to notice, some kind of hearing, and written reasons for the decision—permission to call witnesses and to present documentary evidence when doing so "will not be unduly hazardous to institutional safety or correctional goals," id., at 566).
More importantly for present purposes, whether or not a particular procedural element normally seems appropriate to a certain kind of proceeding, the Due Process Clause does not require process unless, in the individual case, there is a relevant factual dispute between the parties. Just as courts do not hold hearings when there is no "genuine" and "material" issue of fact in dispute between the parties, see Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 56 (summary judgment), so the Due Process Clause does not entitle an inmate to additional disciplinary hearing procedure (such as the calling of a witness) unless
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