From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Bowen v. Ryan

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Sep 26, 2007
248 F. App'x 302 (3d Cir. 2007)

Summary

holding the incarcerated man had been given an initial opportunity to be heard upon confinement and again on period reviews as sufficient to satisfy due process

Summary of this case from Talbert v. Shapiro

Opinion

No. 06-5017.

Submitted Under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) September 21, 2007.

Filed: September 26, 2007.

On Appeal From the United States District Court For the Middle District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civ. No. 05-cv-01512), District Judge: Honorable James M. Munley.

Joseph Bowen, Coal Township, PA, for Appellant.

William E. Fairall, Jr., Camp Hill, PA, for Appellees.

Before: FISHER, ALDISERT and WEIS, Circuit Judges.


OPINION


Joseph Bowen, acting pro se, appeals an order of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissing his complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).

Bowen is an inmate currently confined at the State Correctional Institution at Coal Township, Pennsylvania. He has been held in Administrative Custody there and at other state institutions since October of 1984. Shortly after being confined in Administrative Custody, Bowen was placed on the Restricted Release List by the Secretary of the Department of Corrections. While Bowen remained entitled to periodic review of his confinement status and eligible for release into the general population, being on the Restricted Release List entailed some additional procedural barriers to reclassification. Until 2004, the Prison Review Committee ("PRC"), which assessed Bowen's status every 90 days, had the authority to release him from Administrative Custody. Since May of 2004, however, the PRC has been empowered only to recommend release to the Secretary or his designee, who retain the power to authorize Bowen's return to general population.

Bowen brought this suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that placement on the Restricted Release List without notice and an opportunity to be heard violated his due process rights. He also claimed that his extended confinement in Administrative Custody amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, and that the 2004 changes to the review procedures violated both his due process rights and Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Documents Law. The District Court overruled Bowen's objections and adopted the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation that the Complaint be dismissed under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The Court denied as moot Bowen's request for appointment of counsel.

We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and undertake plenary review of the District Court's dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6), accepting as true all factual allegations in the complaint and viewing them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See AT T Corp. v. JMC Telecom, LLC, 470 F.3d 525, 529 (3d Cir. 2006). The decision to deny counsel is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See Parham v. Johnson, 126 F.3d 454, 457 (3d Cir. 1997).

Appellant's claim that he was placed on the Restricted Release List without due process was properly dismissed. Placement on this List did not deprive Bowen of his liberty, privileges, or any other constitutionally protected liberty interest. See Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 483-84, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 132 L.Ed.2d 418 (1995). To the extent that the complaint can be read as challenging the process by which Bowen was initially confined in Administrative Custody, it fails to allege the lack of a hearing, inadequate opportunity to be heard, or other procedural shortcoming that would implicate his due process rights.

While we do not disagree with the District Court's decision to treat parts of this claim as barred by the applicable statute of limitations, we instead follow the course taken in Shoats v. Horn, 213 F.3d 140, 145-46 (3d Cir. 2000), and address the due process claim on the merits.

We agree with the District Court's analysis of Bowen's constitutional challenge to his confinement in Administrative custody. While twenty years in administrative custody is clearly an atypical and significant hardship sufficient to trigger the procedural protections of the Due Process Clause, implicating a liberty interest within the contemplation of the Fourteenth Amendment, the procedures provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections satisfy the minimal constitutional standards for due process. See Shoats, 213 F.3d at 143-45. Bowen was afforded an initial opportunity to be heard upon confinement, and periodic review of his status. See id. at 146-47. Like the District Court, we reject appellant's conclusory allegations that the periodic reviews by the PRC were rote or meaningless. The 2004 change in the review process neither made it meaningless, as the PRC retains the power to recommend release to an official with the power to order it, nor violated Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Documents Law. See Small v. Horn, 554 Pa. 600, 722 A.2d 664, 669-70 (1998). Appellant has not suggested that the denial of court-appointed counsel constituted an abuse of discretion.

Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.


Summaries of

Bowen v. Ryan

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
Sep 26, 2007
248 F. App'x 302 (3d Cir. 2007)

holding the incarcerated man had been given an initial opportunity to be heard upon confinement and again on period reviews as sufficient to satisfy due process

Summary of this case from Talbert v. Shapiro

holding the incarcerated man had been given an initial opportunity to be heard upon confinement and again on period reviews as sufficient to satisfy due process

Summary of this case from Talbert v. Shapiro

holding that twenty years in administrative custody is "clearly" an atypical and significant hardship

Summary of this case from Griffin v. Lockett

finding that, even though 20 years of administrative custody implicated a liberty interest, "the procedures provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections satisfy the minimal standards for due process"

Summary of this case from Wells v. Wetzel

affirming dismissal of prisoner's claim that he was placed on the RRL without due process because "[p]lacement on the List did not deprive Bowen of his liberty, privileges, or any other constitutionally protected liberty interest"

Summary of this case from Huertas v. Beard

In Bowen v. Ryan, 248 Fed.Appx. 302 (3d Cir. 2007), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit considered and rejected a due process challenge to the precise same procedures at issue here.

Summary of this case from Blount v. Ackrom

stating that the procedures provided by the DOC satisfy the minimal constitutional standards for due process and rejecting plaintiff's conclusory allegations that the periodic reviews were rote or meaningless

Summary of this case from Jacobs v. Dist. Attorney's Office

In Bowen v. Ryan, 248 Fed. Appx. 302 (3d Cir. 2007) (per curiam), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit applied the prisoner due process standard enunciated in Sandin to a Section 1983 claim brought by a Pennsylvania inmate who had been placed on the RRL and confined in administrative custody for a period of 20 years.

Summary of this case from Nifas v. Wetzel

In Bowen, the Third Circuit also rejected claims that an inmate was placed on the restricted release list without due process.

Summary of this case from Torres v. Beard
Case details for

Bowen v. Ryan

Case Details

Full title:Joseph BOWEN, Appellant v. Joseph RYAN; John Stepanik; Kenneth D. Kyler…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Date published: Sep 26, 2007

Citations

248 F. App'x 302 (3d Cir. 2007)

Citing Cases

Nifas v. Wetzel

Id. at 486. In Bowen v. Ryan, 248 Fed. Appx. 302 (3d Cir. 2007) (per curiam), the Court of Appeals for the…

Blount v. Ackrom

In Bowen v. Ryan, 248 Fed.Appx. 302 (3d Cir. 2007), the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit considered…