-JGS Brooks #251955 v. Curtin, No. 1:2011cv00700 - Document 5 (W.D. Mich. 2011)
Court Description: OPINION ; signed by Judge Robert Holmes Bell (Judge Robert Holmes Bell, kcb)
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION CHRISTOPHER G. BROOKS, Petitioner, v. Case No. 1:11-cv-700 Honorable Robert Holmes Bell CINDI CURTIN, Respondent. _______________________________/ OPINION This is a habeas corpus action brought by a state prisoner pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Promptly after the filing of a petition for habeas corpus, the Court must undertake a preliminary review of the petition to determine whether it plainly appears from the face of the petition and any exhibits annexed to it that the petitioner is not entitled to relief in the district court. Rule 4, RULES GOVERNING § 2254 CASES; see 28 U.S.C. § 2243. If so, the petition must be summarily dismissed. Rule 4; see Allen v. Perini, 424 F.2d 134, 141 (6th Cir. 1970) (district court has the duty to screen out petitions that lack merit on their face). A dismissal under Rule 4 includes those petitions which raise legally frivolous claims, as well as those containing factual allegations that are palpably incredible or false. Carson v. Burke, 178 F.3d 434, 436-37 (6th Cir. 1999). After undertaking the review required by Rule 4, the Court concludes that the petition must be dismissed because it fails to raise a meritorious federal claim. Factual Allegations Petitioner Christopher Brooks presently is incarcerated with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and housed at the Oaks Correctional Facility. He currently is serving prison terms of three to twenty years and a consecutive two years, imposed by the Monroe County Circuit Court on September 26, 1996, after Petitioner pleaded nolo contendere to one count of armed robbery, MICH . COMP . LAWS § 750.529, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, MICH . COMP . LAWS § 750.227b. Petitioner, however, does not challenge his underlying conviction or sentence. Instead, he asserts that he was improperly convicted on April 12, 2010 of the major misconduct of creating a disturbance. He makes three specific arguments: (1) he was not provided notice of the amended charge 24 hours before the hearing; (2) the individual who presided over the hearing was not an MDOC Hearings Division Hearing Officer, as required by Michigan law; and (3) the decision was not supported by competent material and substantial evidence on the whole record. As a result of the conviction, Petitioner lost 7 days of privileges and 15 days of good-time credit. Discussion Plaintiff appears to contend that he was deprived of due process by his conviction on the major misconduct charge. A prisoner s ability to challenge a prison misconduct conviction depends on whether the convictions implicated any liberty interest. In the seminal case in this area, Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974), the Court prescribed certain minimal procedural safeguards that prison officials must follow before depriving a prisoner of good-time credits on account of alleged misbehavior. The Wolff Court did not create a free-floating right to process that attaches to all prison disciplinary proceedings; rather the right to process arises only when the -2- prisoner faces a loss of liberty, in the form of a longer prison sentence caused by forfeiture of goodtime credits: It is true that the Constitution itself does not guarantee good-time credit for satisfactory behavior while in prison. But here the State itself has not only provided a statutory right to good time but also specifies that it is to be forfeited only for serious misbehavior. Nebraska may have the authority to create, or not, a right to a shortened prison sentence through the accumulation of credits for good behavior, and it is true that the Due Process Clause does not require a hearing in every conceivable case of government impairment of private interest. But the State having created the right to good time and itself recognizing that its deprivation is a sanction authorized for major misconduct, the prisoner s interest has real substance and is sufficiently embraced within Fourteenth Amendment liberty to entitle him to those minimum procedures appropriate under the circumstances and required by the Due Process Clause to insure that the state-created right is not arbitrarily abrogated. Wolff, 418 U.S. at 557 (citations omitted). Michigan has abolished the good-time credit system for all prisoners whose crimes were committed after April 1, 1987. See MICH . COMP . LAWS § 800.33(5). In its place, Michigan has enacted a disciplinary credit system. Id. The Sixth Circuit has examined the statute as it relates to the creation and forfeiture of such disciplinary credits. In Thomas v. Eby, 481 F.3d 434 (6th Cir. 2007), the court determined that loss of disciplinary credits does not necessarily affect the duration of a prisoner s sentence. Rather, it merely affects parole eligibility, which remains discretionary with the parole board. 481 F.3d at 440. Building on this ruling, in Nali v. Ekman, 355 F. App x 909 (6th Cir. 2009), the court held that a misconduct citation in the Michigan prison system does not affect a prisoner s constitutionally protected liberty interests, because it does not necessarily affect the length of confinement. 355 F. App x at 912; accord, Wilson v. Rapelje, No. 09-13030, 2010 WL 5491196, at *4 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 24, 2010) (Report & Recommendation) ( plaintiff s disciplinary -3- hearing and major misconduct sanction does not implicate the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause ), adopted as judgment of court (Jan. 4, 2011). In the instant case, Plaintiff alleges that he lost good-time credits as the result of his misconduct conviction. However, because his underlying offense conduct occurred in 1995, Plaintiff was eligible only for disciplinary credits. See MICH . COMP . LAWS § 800.33(5). Applying the reasoning of Thomas, 481 F.3d at 440, and Nali, 355 F. App x at 912, Plaintiff has no liberty interest in his disciplinary credits. Even in the absence of a protectible liberty interest in disciplinary credits, a prisoner may be able to raise a due-process challenge to prison misconduct convictions that result in a significant, atypical deprivation. See Sandin v. Connor, 515 U.S. 472 (1995). Petitioner has not identified any significant deprivation arising from his convictions. The Sandin Court concluded that even placement in administrative segregation for 30 days does not implicate a liberty interest because routine segregation does not impose an atypical and significant hardship. Sandin, 515 U.S. at 484. Petitioner s alleged deprivation is substantially less significant than the segregation at issue in Sandin; he alleges only that he received seven days loss of privileges. Such a limited deprivation is neither atypical nor significant. Id. In the absence of a demonstrated liberty interest, Petitioner has no due-process claim. See Bell v. Anderson, 301 F. App x 459, 461-62 (6th Cir. 2008). Moreover, to the extent that Plaintiff alleges the hearing was conducted in violation of Michigan laws or policies, his claim is not cognizable on habeas review. The Court may entertain an application for habeas relief on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). A habeas petition must state facts that point to a real possibility of constitutional error. -4- Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 75 n.7 (1977) (quoting Advisory Committee Notes on Rule 4, RULES GOVERNING HABEAS CORPUS CASES). The federal courts have no power to intervene on the basis of a perceived error of state law. Wilson v. Corcoran, 131 S. Ct. 13, 14 (2010); Bradshaw v. Richey, 546 U.S. 74, 76 (2005); Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 41 (1984). Conclusion In light of the foregoing, the Court will summarily dismiss Petitioner s application pursuant to Rule 4 because it fails to raise a meritorious federal claim. Certificate of Appealability Under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), the Court must determine whether a certificate of appealability should be granted. A certificate should issue if Petitioner has demonstrated a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). This Court s dismissal of Petitioner s action under Rule 4 of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases is a determination that the habeas action, on its face, lacks sufficient merit to warrant service. It would be highly unlikely for this Court to grant a certificate, thus indicating to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that an issue merits review, when the Court has already determined that the action is so lacking in merit that service is not warranted. See Love v. Butler, 952 F.2d 10 (1st Cir. 1991) (it is somewhat anomalous for the court to summarily dismiss under Rule 4 and grant a certificate); Hendricks v. Vasquez, 908 F.2d 490 (9th Cir. 1990) (requiring reversal where court summarily dismissed under Rule 4 but granted certificate); Dory v. Comm r of Corr. of the State of New York, 865 F.2d 44, 46 (2d Cir. 1989) (it was intrinsically contradictory to grant a certificate when habeas action does not warrant service under Rule 4); Williams v. Kullman, 722 F.2d 1048, 1050 n.1 (2d Cir. 1983) (issuing certificate would be inconsistent with a summary dismissal). -5- The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has disapproved issuance of blanket denials of a certificate of appealability. Murphy v. Ohio, 263 F.3d 466 (6th Cir. 2001). Rather, the district court must engage in a reasoned assessment of each claim to determine whether a certificate is warranted. Id. at 467. Each issue must be considered under the standards set forth by the Supreme Court in Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473 (2000). Murphy, 263 F.3d at 467. Consequently, this Court has examined each of Petitioner s claims under the Slack standard. Under Slack, 529 U.S. at 484, to warrant a grant of the certificate, [t]he petitioner must demonstrate that reasonable jurists would find the district court s assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong. Id. A petitioner satisfies this standard by demonstrating that . . . jurists could conclude the issues presented are adequate to deserve encouragement to proceed further. Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 327 (2003). In applying this standard, the Court may not conduct a full merits review, but must limit its examination to a threshold inquiry into the underlying merit of Petitioner s claims. Id. The Court finds that reasonable jurists could not conclude that this Court s dismissal of Petitioner s claims was debatable or wrong. Therefore, the Court will deny Petitioner a certificate of appealability. A Judgment and Order consistent with this Opinion will be entered. Dated: August 16, 2011 /s/ Robert Holmes Bell ROBERT HOLMES BELL UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE -6-
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