Jerry A. Smith v. M. Velazquez

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana granted summary judgment to disciplinary hearing officer Margarita Velazquez in Jerry A. Smith’s due process claim arising from the loss of good-time credits. Applying Torres v. Brookman, the court held that Smith no longer had a viable claim concerning the loss of those credits because they had been restored, notwithstanding a delay in restoration, and directed the clerk to enter judgment and close the case.

Holdings

1. An inmate whose good-time credits have been restored no longer has a viable due process claim related to the loss of those credits.
2. A delay in implementing restoration of good-time credits, even if it delayed release, does not preserve Smith's due process claim against the disciplinary hearing officer for the original deprivation.
3. Summary judgment was warranted in favor of Velazquez because Smith no longer had a viable due process claim after restoration of his good-time credits.

Questions Presented

1. Whether restoration of a prisoner's good-time credits eliminates his Fourteenth Amendment due process claim challenging the procedures used to deprive him of those credits.
2. Whether an alleged delay in restoring the good-time credits preserves a due process claim against the disciplinary hearing officer who imposed the original sanction.
3. Whether summary judgment should be granted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f).

Disposition

other