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Wilbert Eugene PROFFITT, Appellant, v. Dr. P. J. CICCONE, Appellee

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit1974-11-15No. Nos. 74-1161, 74-1249
506 F.2d 1020

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's denial of relief, finding no remand necessary because the hair regulation claim involved no factual dispute and reasonably restricts religious exercise in prison, while the disciplinary proceeding, though not conforming to later requirements, provided adequate procedural protections including notice and a fair hearing.

A federal prisoner challenged both prison hair grooming regulations and disciplinary procedures used against him. On the hair regulation claim, the court found no factual dispute existed since prison officials acknowledged the regulation's existence, making the issue purely legal and requiring no evidentiary hearing. The court determined that while prisoners retain protection for religious exercise, they cannot use religion as justification to disregard reasonable prison conduct rules, and grooming requirements have been consistently upheld as reasonable.

Regarding the disciplinary proceeding where the prisoner lost good time credits for being out of bounds, the court examined whether he received adequate procedural protections. Although the hearing procedures predated and did not fully comply with later Supreme Court requirements for such proceedings, the record showed the prisoner received notice and a fair hearing before the disciplinary committee, providing sufficient constitutional safeguards.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether prison hair grooming regulations violate First Amendment religious freedom protections
  • Whether a prisoner received procedural due process in a disciplinary hearing resulting in loss of good time
  • Proper scope of review for federal habeas petitions when magistrate findings are adopted by district court

Procedural posture

The appellant appealed the district court's denial of habeas corpus relief challenging both prison grooming regulations and disciplinary procedures.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

majority opinion

LAY, Circuit Judge.

This is one of three cases decided this date involving the use of the writ of habeas corpus by a federal prisoner challenging conditions of his confinement. The petitioner seeks a remand to the district court because of the unauthorized procedures followed by that court in referring his petitions to a magistrate for an evidentiary hearing and subsequently adopting the magistrate’s findings as its own. See Wingo v. Wedding, 418 U.S. 461, 94 S.Ct. 2842, 41 L.Ed.2d 879 (1974). For the reasons set forth in Willis v. Ciccone, 506 F.2d 1011, also filed this date, we find no necessity for remand and affirm the district court’s denial of relief.

In two separate proceedings, consolidated here for purposes of appeal, the petitioner seeks injunctive relief against (1) enforcement of prison hair regulations which allegedly infringe upon his First Amendment rights relating to religious beliefs, and (2) the denial of procedural due process in a prison disciplinary proceeding which resulted in four days of punitive isolation.

Proffitt’s first claim is that prison regulations which require him to cut his long hair force him to violate a religious vow he has taken. This allegation states a prima facie claim for relief. Prison authorities may not unreasonably interfere with the exercise of one’s religious beliefs. See Cooper v. Pate, 378 U.S. 546, 84 S.Ct. 1733, 12 L.Ed.2d 1030 (1966); Evans v. Ciccone, 377 F.2d 4 (8th Cir. 1967). Since the prison authorities admit the existence of the regulations requiring petitioner to cut his hair, however, no factual dispute exists and the question presented is one of law. No evidentiary hearing was necessary to review this claim and thus no remand is required.

Although the law acknowledges a prisoner’s “forum of conscience” deserving of protection, Remmers v. Brewer, 494 F.2d 1277 (8th Cir. 1974), it also recognizes that a person, in or out of prison, may not, in the name of religion, become a law unto himself. As we said in Evans v. Ciccone, supra,: “Freedom of religion can never mean freedom to flagrantly disregard reasonable rules of conduct in or out of prison.” 377 F.2d at 6.

In the past this court has upheld prison regulations imposing reasonable grooming requirements on prisoners. Rinehart v. Brewer, 491 F.2d 705 (8th Cir. 1974) (Lay, J., dissenting). See also Blake v. Pryse, 444 F.2d 218, 219 (8th Cir. 1971). Until a majority of this court may disagree, the Rinehart case is the law of this circuit. Prison grooming regulations have withstood challenges under the First Amendment in other circuits as well. See, e. g., Brooks v. Wainwright, 428 F.2d 652 (5th Cir. 1970).

Petitioner’s second complaint focuses on disciplinary action taken against him for being found “out of bounds.” It resulted in a loss of good time. He alleges he was denied procedural due process in his hearing before the disciplinary committee. Although the specific requirements of due process set forth in Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 94 S.Ct. 2963, 41 L.Ed.2d 935 (1974), are not retroactive, we have held that a prisoner’s loss of good time in cases pending at the time of Wolff must nevertheless have a factual basis and good time cannot be deprived without some showing of notice and a fair hearing on the prison administrative level. The testimony of prison officials before the magistrate shows this occurred here. Although the procedures followed did not conform with the requirements of Wolff, in our judgment they provided sufficient procedural safeguards to avoid constitutional challenge. The district court so found and the record supports this finding.

Judgment affirmed.

. This evidence could have been submitted by written affidavit. We treat the sworn testimony before the magistrate as an oral affidavit for purposes of our determination.