Due Process Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Jeryme Morgan v. Minh Schott, et al.

Case No.: 16-2384

Officials: KANNE, SYKES, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Due Process Violation

Illinois prison officials issued a disciplinary report charging inmate Jeryme Morgan with offenses stemming from a violent assault on fellow prisoners. Morgan disputed the charges and asked the authorities to call a witness to testify at his Adjustment Committee hearing. But the Committee never called Morgan’s witness. He was found guilty and the Committee imposed punishment of one year of segregation, various status and access restrictions, and revocation of three months of good-time credits. Morgan filed a grievance challenging his punishment on due-process grounds and appealed its subsequent denial to the Administrative Review Board (“the Board”). The Board adjusted the revocation of good-time credits to one month but affirmed the Committee’s due-process ruling, concluding that Morgan’s witness request did not comply with prison rules.

We affirm. Prisoners cannot make an end run around Heck by filing an affidavit waiving challenges to the portion of their punishment that revokes good-time credits. We recently addressed that very tactic and found it incompatible with the Heck line of cases. Haywood v. Hathaway, 842 F.3d 1026 (7th Cir. 2016). Morgan provides no reason to question Haywood, and we reaffirm its reasoning. Morgan’s attempt to analogize his case to Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74 (2005), and Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U.S. 521 (2011), misunderstands those decisions. Judgment in Morgan’s favor would necessarily imply the invalidity of his prison discipline. Thus, no § 1983 claim has accrued. This suit is premature and must be dismissed without prejudice.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.