Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Colman v. Lahouse, 1st Cir. (1992)
Colman v. Lahouse, 1st Cir. (1992)
___________________
No. 92-1306
PAUL F. COLMAN,
Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
JEAN LAHOUSE, ET. AL.,
Defendants, Appellees.
__________________
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
[Hon. Mark L. Wolf, U.S. District Judge]
___________________
___________________
Before
Breyer, Chief Judge
___________
Campbell, Senior Circuit Judge,
____________________
and Cyr, Circuit Judge.
_____________
___________________
Appellant
is
Correctional Institution
an
inmate
at
at Norfolk.
the
His in
__
relief
under
of
his rights
violations
Amendments.1
other
sponte
______
Named as
officials
Corrections.
under
42
of
U.S.C.
under
the
1983,
Fifth and
The district
28 U.S.C.
Commonwealth's
for
alleged
Fourteenth
Commissioner and
Department
of
For the
reasons that
alleges
that
defendants
have
improperly
admit committing
which he
is
incarcerated.
an
admission of
guilt, the
defendants are
threatening the
convicted after a
trial of
force.
He alleges that
instead
pursuing "post-conviction
He
new
he has never
rape of a
child by
... relief
and appeals."
complaint
Documents
show
that
appended
despite
an
as
exhibits
otherwise
to
the
favorable
Classification Committee
periodically
declined
to
Board at
recommend
MCI-Norfolk has
appellant's
transfer
____________________
1.
The complaint also alleges violations of plaintiff's
First and Sixth Amendment rights.
However, neither the
complaint nor plaintiff's brief here explains the basis for
these claims.
Accordingly we take them to
be mere
surplusage.
-3-
reluctance to
was
affirmed
September
by the
20, 1990
Programs
and
decision
violated
against
Commissioner
appellant
on
each occasion.
appealed to
Classifications,
appellant's
self-incrimination.2
arguing
Fifth
The
On
the Director
that
the
Amendment
Director
of
Board's
privilege
affirmed
the
filed in forma
__ _____
pauperis if it
________
is "satisfied that
A complaint is
or
an
in
fact,"
theory"
Williams,
________
or
contains
"fanciful"
"indisputably
factual
meritless
allegations.
in law
legal
Neitzke
_______
v.
____________________
2.
According to a copy of a letter appended to appellant's
complaint, appellant undertook this "classification appeal"
on the advice of one Deputy Nelson and the superintendent at
MCI-Norfolk. The regulations to which we have been referred
expressly allow an inmate to appeal the Board's decision only
to the Superintendent.
20 CMR
420.08(6)(h), 420.09 (1).
The Superintendent is then required to respond in writing to
the inmate within ten working days." 20 CMR
420.08(6)(h).
The
Superintendent's decision "shall
be submitted for
approval to the Commissioner or his designee," who makes the
final decision. 20 CMR
420.08(6)(i). Since neither the
regulations nor statutes before us expressly provide for an
inmate
appeal
to
the
Director
of
Programs
and
Classifications, we
assume that the Director
was the
Commissioner's "designee" at the time and that further
internal procedures allowed this direct inmate appeal.
-4-
Fed. R. Civ. P.
standard is more
Johnson v. Rodriguez,
_______
_________
rigorous."
12(b)(6), "the
943 F.2d
Ct. 948
(1992);
the district
claim has
no legal
merit.
the
Due process
there is a
Meachum
_______
due process
identifiable
v. Fano,
____
Supreme Court
has
427
U.S. 215,
held
U.S. at
clause protections
deprivation of an
liberty or property.
either by the
law.
However,
that the
222
or by
(1976).
Fourteenth
Amendment
does
not
create
for
prisoners
And
it
has also
been
protectable
repeatedly held
that
20,
the due
the
550 F.2d
1291, 1292
(1st
-5-
379,
Correction,
__________
409
(extending
same
Mass. 472,
477,
interpretation to
567
N.E.2d
section
906
(1991)
of state
law
have been no
rendered.
On
of the state
its face, the
over
prison
transfers,
limitations
which
interest.
And
with
might
none
signal
of
the
creation
substantive
of
"liberty"
the types
of specific directives to
result.
at *9-13 (1st
1992) (describing
seemingly
court's
correct.
violated
decision
He argues,
his
incrimination
Fifth
by
concedes
on
however,
appeal
that
the
his due
process
claim
was
that
the Board's
Amendment
forcing
him
on
privilege
to
chose
decision
against
between
selfmaking
the
appellant's
Fifth
Amendment
pp. 8-9, we
-6-
claim
factually
would be constrained
to
hold that
U.S. at
it had an
328.
Though
not
unqualified,
Neitzke, 490
_______
it
is
generally
entitled
to
incrimination
assert
with regard
the
to
privilege
the crime.
1 John
1984)
privilege
appealing
against
prisoner to
favorable
(one
deemed
his
conviction
post-conviction treatment
and
William
(4th Ed.
(4th
retains
And
requiring
his
a
create a
compelled
self-
prosecution.
121, 122
self-incrimination).
penalty situation"
against
inadmissible
"classic
answers would be
in
the
criminal
not threatened
___
been held
that while a
state may
validly
system, it may do so
only if
proceeding
and
thus
eliminates
the
threat
of
incrimination."
Murphy, 465
______
U.S.
at
435 n.7
(probation
(4th Cir.
-7-
1984)
(prison officials
compel
promised
evaluation
criminal
would
be
confidentiality
may
suppressed
proceeding),
United States v.
_____________
Pens
____
who
if
cert. denied,
____________
offered
474
in subsequent
U.S. 982
(1985);
assured
confidentiality
in
psychiatric evaluations,
sentence).
indication
In
not be
used to
that Massachusetts
has
erected a
their
enhance
us we find no
privilege
of
threat of
Hawkins
_______
incrimination
appellant alleges
v. Commissioner of Correction,
___________________________
here.
406 Mass.
See
___
898, 551
N.E.2d
495
Information
disclosure
offered
court
(1990)
(holding
Practices
Act does
of
that
not
his classification
against him
by
Massachusetts
protect
and
a transfer
prisoner from
disciplinary reports
corrections officials
action challenging
Fair
in
federal
decision based
on the
reports).
In
terms
Amendment
basis.3
of legal
claim might
be
theory,
then,
said to
have
appellant's Fifth
an arguable
legal
____________________
3.
We emphasize that we do not reach the legal merit of
appellant's claim here, nor do we express any opinion as to
whether such a claim might withstand a motion to dismiss for
failure to state a claim. Under
1915(d) the court's only
task is to determine whether it lacks "even an arguable basis
-8-
hearing
Montayne v.
________
these
before a
transfer,
Haymes, 427
______
decisions
Meachum,
_______
U.S. 236,
expressly
sufficient to require
rule[s]
427
242 (1976),
out a
U.S. at
216;
"nothing in
challenge
to
transfer
[decision]
on
the
ground
of law."
Cir. 1979),
of
action).
Joseph
U.S. 1035
which have
87 (1st
(1980); see
also
(holding that
was in
exercise of a fundamental
Most courts
violate[s]
it
Furtado v. Bishop,
_______
______
for prisoner's
that
retaliation
considered the
issue
court decisions); 3
may
have
some
petitioner pleads.
show that
twice cited
The
it
by the
to take
on
the
in its periodic
not
or his
the last
responsibility" was
reviews.
The
word.
It
____________________
in law," Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 328.
_______
-9-
facts
the complaint
however, are
Commissioner alone,
collapses
exhibits appended to
appellant's "failure
basis,
Board for
Board's
was
the
the statutory
authority
1,
2; M.G.L. c. 127
final
authority
regulations.
the
over
20 CMR
Commissioner's
appellant's
serious
20, 97.
all
periodic
reviews
420.08(6)(i). The
office,
attached
complaint, was
last
as
the
decision from
an
expressly based
under
exhibit
to
solely on
"the
Since
the
final,
and
only
effective,
denial
of
appellant
suffered
111954, at
*2 (E.D.
injury
parole
the
Board's
Pa. Oct.
20, 1988)
from
no
1983
1988
claim
state no actionable
authorities' alleged
violation
of
his
on improperly
been dropped,
Thus
we
conclude
that
appellant's Fifth
fact.
extends no further
Amendment
This part of
than the date
our decision,
of appellant's
-10-
For
the
reasons
stated
above, the
decision
of
the
-11-