SC Administrative Law Court Decisions

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This matter is before the Administrative Law Judge Division ("Division") pursuant to the appeal of Rodney T. Arnold, an inmate incarcerated with the Department of Corrections ("Department") since January 13, 1988. On February 2, 2000, Inmate Arnold filed two grievances with the Department. In his first grievance, Inmate Arnold complained that employees of Tyger River Correctional Facility ("Facility") wrongly returned correspondence containing three business cards that was addressed to him. In a second grievance, Inmate Arnold alleged that he had observed Department employees reading inmate correspondence in violation of Department policy and the First Amendment. On February 29, 2000, the Department denied both of Inmate Arnold's grievances. On March 27, 2000, Inmate Arnold filed this appeal with the Division.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On December 29, 1999, the Facility's mailroom supervisor informed Inmate Arnold that certain correspondence addressed to Inmate Arnold had been rejected because it contained three business cards. In addition, Inmate Arnold alleges he observed mailroom employees reading, rather than scanning, inmate mail on several occasions, including December 29, 1999.

Department policy provides for the inspection of every piece of inmate mail to detect contraband. Policy/Procedure 10.08 states that

all general and certified (provided it is not legal/privileged) correspondence will be opened and inspected by mailroom employees for unauthorized property items/contraband prior to delivery to the inmate. Legal and privileged mail must be opened and inspected in the presence of the inmate.

Department Policy/Procedure 10.08(2)(b).

Department policy also permits the reading or scanning of non-privileged, non-legal mail if it is believed to contain material that could interfere with safety. That policy states that

an inmate's incoming general (and certified, provided it is not legal or privileged) correspondence may only be read/scanned when the Warden or designee has reason to believe that the correspondence may contain material that interferes with legitimate penological objectives, i.e., the safety, security, or order of the institution or others.

Policy/Procedure 10.08(c).

Finally, inmates are prohibited from receiving any type of identification card. Department policy states that

[i]nmates will be prohibited from receiving any pre-paid phone cards and/or any type of identification card or original birth/marriage certificate (their own or anyone elses (sic)) and/or other materials that could be used to create false identities.

Policy/Procedure 10.08(2)(a)(g).

The Department considers a business card a type of identification card.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Division's jurisdiction to hear this matter is derived entirely from the decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court in Al-Shabazz v. State, 338 S.C. 354, 527 S.E.2d 742 (2000). In Al- Shabazz, the Supreme Court created a new avenue by which inmates could seek review of final decisions of the Department of Corrections in "non-collateral" matters, i.e., matters in which an inmate does not challenge the validity of a conviction or sentence, by appealing those decisions to the Division and ultimately to the circuit court pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act. 338 S.C. at 373, 376, 527 S.E.2d at 752, 754. In its appellate capacity, the Division is primarily concerned with ensuring that the appellants receive all procedural process they are due. While due process is "flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands," Stono River Envtl. Protection Ass'n v. S.C. Dept. Of Health and Envtl. Control, 305 S.C. 90, 94, 406 S.E.2d 30, 341 (1991), certain elements must be satisfied in order for procedural due process requirements to be met, including adequate advance notice of the charges, adequate opportunity for a hearing in which the inmate can present witnesses and documentary evidence, and an impartial hearing officer who prepares a written statement of all the evidence presented and the reasons for his decision. Al-Shabazz, 338 S.C. 371, 527 S.E.2d at 751, citing Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539, 563-72, 94 S. Ct. 2963, 2978-82 (1974).

As in all cases subject to appellate review by the Division, the standard of review in these inmate grievance cases is limited to the record presented. An Administrative Law Judge may not substitute his judgment for that of an agency unless the agency's determination is affected by error of law or is clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative, and substantial evidence in the whole record. S.C. Code Ann. § 1-23-380(A)(6) (Supp. 1999); Al-Shabazz, 338 S.C. at 380, 527 S.E.2d at 756; Lark v. Bi-Lo, Inc., 276 S.C. 130, 276 S.E.2d 304 (1981). Moreover, to afford "meaningful judicial review," the Administrative Law Judge must "adequately explain" his decision by "documenting the findings of fact" and basing his decision on "reliable, probative, and substantial evidence on the whole record." Al-Shabazz, 338 S.C. at 380, 527 S.E.2d at 756.

IV. DISCUSSION

Prisoners may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. See Wolff v. McDonnell, 418 U.S. 539 (1974). That prisoners retain due process rights "in no way implies that these rights are not subject to restrictions imposed by the nature of the regime to which they have been lawfully committed." Id. at 556. As such, a prison regulation that impinges on an inmate's constitutional rights is valid if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests and the inmate has alternative methods of exercising those rights. Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 89-90 (1987).

In this case, Inmate Arnold does not allege that the Department's policies regarding the handling of mail infringe on his First Amendment rights. ⁽¹⁾ Rather, Inmate Arnold alleges that Department employees violated his rights when they failed to follow Department policy by reading inmate mail and by rejecting the correspondence containing the business cards.