SCOTT W. HARRIS v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4902-04T54902-04T5

SCOTT W. HARRIS,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,

Defendant-Respondent.

 

Submitted December 21, 2005 - Decided

Before Judges Winkelstein and Lihotz.

On appeal from a Final Decision of the Department of Corrections.

Scott W. Harris, appellant pro se.

Peter C. Harvey, Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Patrick DeAlmeida, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Walter C. Kowalski, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).

PER CURIAM

Appellant, Scott W. Harris, is incarcerated at Northern State Prison serving a fifty-six-year, seven-month term for multiple convictions, including murder, kidnapping and armed robbery. He appeals from a final decision of the Department of Corrections that transferred him from his kitchen job to a tier sanitation job. On appeal, Harris raises the following argument:

I. APPELLANT WAS UNCONSTITUTIONALLY TERMINATED FROM HIS PARAPROFESSIONAL KITCHEN WORK ASSIGNMENT IN RETALIATION FOR EXERCISING HIS FULLY PROTECTED FIRST AMENDMENT FREE-SPEECH RIGHTS.

A review of an agency's decision is limited. Only when that decision is arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable, or unsupported by the substantial credible evidence in the record as a whole, will we reverse it. Henry v. Rahway State Prison, 81 N.J. 571, 579-80 (1980); see also In re Taylor, 158 N.J. 644, 657 (1999) (court must uphold agency's findings even if court believes it would have reached a different result, so long as sufficient credible evidence in the record exists to support the agency's conclusions).

 
We have carefully reviewed the record in light of Harris's contentions and the applicable law. We are satisfied that his arguments are without merit and do not warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(D)&(E).

Affirmed.

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2

A-4902-04T5

December 28, 2005